A Second Chance
by Lavender Cat
Summary: When Valerie Greywool, a painfully shy young woman, dies prematurely trying to save her beloved pet, she gets a second chance at life...just not the way she'd planned. Mark the calenders! It's finished!
1. Prolouge

**A/N: **Okay my first story with chapters. Let's see if I can do this!

**Summary:** When Valerie Greywool, a painfully shy young woman, dies prematurely trying to save her beloved pet, she is offered a second chance at life. Unfortuanately for her, she gets a little more than she bargined for.

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"Thank you, come again," said perky young clerk, as she handed the rather nervous-looking college student his bag of books. Valerie Greywool, the only other soul in the tiny bookstore, watched her with a feeling of nausea rising in her stomach.

_No real human being could be THAT happy without being on some kind of medication, _Valerie thought. She continued her task of pulling new books out of a shipping crate and placing them on their designated shelf spot. She continued to watch the young clerk, whose name was Mary Sue, pull a small brush from her pocket and run it through her shining blonde hair. The feeling of nausea became even stronger. Valerie felt as if she was going to throw up.

But nothing could have prepared her for the next unwelcome sight to walk through the door of the bookstore. As the bell on the door jingled and Mary Sue giggled with delight, Valerie poked her head from behind the shelves to see..._him._

Daniel Pryde sauntered up to the desk and planted a kiss on Mary Sue's lips. She pretended to be embarassed and shoo him away. Then, he pulled her closer, as they began a furious, yet disgusting, make-out session.

_Sickening, _thought Valerie. She couldn't bear it any longer. Abandoning the half-empty box of books, she walked around to the front of the book shelf that hid her.

"Hey, Mary Sue," she chimed politely, despite the rising feeling of vomit in her throat at the sight of their spit exchanging.

Mary Sue quickly jerked her head around to face Valerie, and, with the stupidest grin imaginable, managed to pant, "Yeah, Val?"

Valerie cringed at the dreaded nickname, but said sweetly, "I'm not feeling to well. I think I'll step outside for some fresh air."

"Okay, you do that," said Mary Sue, returning to the more pressing matter of sucking Daniel's face off.

Valerie turned on her heels and headed for the back door, which led to an alley, where she often ran to to escape whatever headaches she may have been experiencing. As she thrust open the heavy door, she nearly hit a small red, white, and black kitten. Said kitten mewed in protest of nearly being smashed with a giant, metal door. Valerie bent down and picked up the small ball of fur.

"I'm sorry, Rosie," she cooed, gently stroking the kitten's ear. "But you have to be careful when you're hanging around this door. Say, where's Dusty?"

If anything, Valerie loved cats. The furry little wonders were, to her, the best thing on the face of the Earth. Two particular cats she was very fond of were Rosie and Dusty. Rosie,the small kitten she held at the moment, was named so becuase her striking red fur that made her look like a walking rose. Her eyes, which were a lovely shade of gold, shown with the innocence of childhood so many human's lacked. Dusty, on the other hand, was named because of just that. Every time Valerie saw him, he was covered in dust, from his ears to the tip of his tail. But under all the dust, he had pretty orange fur with a long brown tail. His eyes were like green glass, that, when looked at properly, almost flashed.

The pair would come to the alley behind the bookstore often, but for some reason, Rosie would sometimes show up alone. Valerie usually would dismiss this as normal cat behavior (whatever that might be).

Valerie continued to stroke Rosie affectionatly. Valerie found herself growing envious of the kitten.

"You know something, Rosie?" she said, as Rosie stretched and dug her claws into the leg of Valerie's jeans. "You cats don't ever have to worry about anyone cheating on you. I was with Daniel for a whole year! And then he drops me like a sack of dirty garbage for that walking cliche! A year of my life wasted on that slimy, back-stabbing, man-whore..."

She stared down at the kitten in her lap, who was staring back. Valerie laughed.

"You probably have no idea what I'm even talking about do you, Rosie?" she asked. The little kitten cocked her head and Valerie couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course you don't," Valerie said, placing the kitten back on the ground. She stroked Rosie's fur and opened the door. She looked back down at Rosie, who was gazing up at her with an expecting look.

"You know you can't come in with me," Valerie said. But the small kitten just kept looking at her, with those beautiful golden eyes...

"Fine," Valerie sighed, stepping aside to allow Rosie in.

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Inside, Valerie went back to unpacking the books from the crate, as Rosie played with pieces of tape dangling from the edges of the box.

As she set the books to the side so she could price them, the title of the book caught her eye. It read "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats".

Suddenly, Rosie jumped into Valerie's lap, causing her to drop the book, which opened on its landing. The bold black-lettered title read "Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat". Rosie immediatly hopped from Rosie's lap onto the book and began to paw at the page.

"What are you doing, Rosie?" Valerie asked, picking up the book and flipping through it. She came to a passage called "The Old Gumbie Cat".

_Weird titles, _Valerie thought. As she set the book back on the floor still open, Rosie once again began to paw at the page.

Valerie was about to say just how odd the cat was acting, but she was cut off by a monstorous bellow that she was all too familiar with.

"Greywool!" shouted Susan, her bruting manager who could easily be mistaken for a professional wrestler.

Valerie stood and faced Susan, the over-powering scent of onions coming over her, undoubtedly Susan's new perfume.

"What the hell is that cat doing in here?!" Susan barked. Valerie looked down at Rosie, who stared at Susan with wide-eyed fear. Valerie stammered, unable to stand up to this beast that was her manager.

"You know I hate cats!" Susan shouted, grabbing a broom leaning against one of the book shelves. She swat it at Rosie, who hissed and lept backwards. Valerie watched in horror as her beloved pet was chased around by this monter weilding a broom. And she was helpless to stop her! Mary Sue stared blankly at Valerie, completely unaware of what was happening as Susan thrust open the door and, with one last powerful swipe, shooed Rosie out the door.

Slamming the door, Susan pounded back to her office, but not before giving Valerie a "do that again and you're out of here" look. Valerie looked out the window, as Rosie padded into the street.

As Valerie's head strayed to the right, she noticed a car speeding down the road. It was headed for Rosie!

Without even stopping to think, Valerie pushed the door open and ran out into the street...

The pain was incredible as the car made contact with Valerie's spine. She could feel the bones shattering inside of her like glass being thrown against concrete. Her brain screamed at this sudden change.

All around her, Valerie heard noise. People yelling to call an ambualnce, someone explaining how she'd just jumped from nowhere, and people wondering who would do such a crazy thing for a cat!

Valerie could taste blood in her mouth. All the feeling from her body was beginning to drain. Everything went black...

"It'a too late. She's dead," was the last thing Valerie heard.

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**Son of A/N: **Ah, youth, cut down in it's prime! Anywho, despite what most of you are thinking, this IS a Cats fic. It just has to develop. Be patient people!

Now, here's the jist of things. I'm not going to update if no one reviews for this. And I mean NICE reveiws with constructive critisism, if any. NO, I REPEAT, NO FLAMERS!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Yes, I am still alive and I have finally written a new chapter to this thing. So, read on, anticipating ones, read on! Oh and I apoloigize if the beginning of the chapter is a little...well, not too good. I really had a lack of drive when I wrote it. But don't worry, the rest is better, I promise!

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A bright, white light shone into Valerie's face. She felt herself falling through some kind of shimmering tunnel, a gentle breeze flowing into her face. The white light grew larger, as Valerie drew closer. Soon, she was completely enveloped by it...

"Valerie..." a voice whispered in her ear.

Her eyes fluttered open at the soothing tone of a human voice. Or was it human? Valerie couldn't tell for sure.

"Valerie Greywool," the voice repeated louder this time. Her eyes darted about to find a possible location for the mysterious voice, but found none. She wasn't even quite sure of _her_ location. All around her were soft, pastel colors and a kind of pulsating light.

Suddenly the bright, white light became visible again. And, much to Valerie's amazement and confusion, it began to speak to her.

"Valerie Greywool, you have given away your life in order to protect another. This is one of the greatest nobilities anyone can do for a living creature," the voice said, still with a tone as smooth as silk. "For your brave and honorable act, I am willing to offer you a second chance to live life."

Valerie was stunned. Was she really hearing this, or was it some kind of halluciation brought about by the drugs they were using to revive her in the land of the living? A second chance to live? To do everything all over again? And do it right? Valerie's head spun as she thought of the things she could change.

"Do you accept, Valerie Greywool?" the voice asked.

Shaking of the shock, Valerie considered it. How could you refuse an offer to live life again? The answer: you couldn't.

"I accept," Valerie said shakily.

"Very well," the voice said gently. Then, the white embodiment of the voice seemed to explode and Valerie felt that falling sensation again...

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Valerie slowly opened her eyes. When the afternoon sun hit her, she squinted to see. Opening her eyes a little more, she looked around at the trees and concrete surrounding her. She sat up in shock and looked around. She was back! She was really back!

She slowly got to her feet. At the sudden change of altitude, her head began to spin. She raised her hands to steady herself, but stopped short. She stared at her hands, if you could still call them hands. They were covered in black and grey fur. Her eyes traveled up her arms, also covered in the thick fur. A look at her legs proved the same.

She looked at her surroundings once more. Everything had become huge. A dumpster a few feet away towered over her like a sky-scraper. Newspapers and discarded grocery bags were big enough to crawl inside.

_God Valerie, what kind of drugs do they have you on? _she asked herself. _You must be dreaming. Pinch yourself, that's it. If it doesn't hurt, you have to be dreaming._

Valerie pinched her left arm, and recoiled in pain. She looked down at her now-bleeding arm and whimpered a bit. Thinking she must have pinched herself too hard, she stole a look at her right hand and saw claws protruding from her fingers.

Fear mounting inside her, Valerie looked around frantically for something reflective. Spying a shard of a broken mirror, she ran over to it. She yelped at what she saw.

Staring back at her was a face completely covered in fur. Running her fingers...no, paws through it, her jaw dropped, revealing two rows of sharp little teeth. The long black hair (if she was still supposed to call it hair) she'd had before was still visible, now a mane of sorts, nearly impossible to tell apart from the fur she now possesed. On top of her head, she saw two small pointed ears. She took a step backwards, taking in her whole fur-covered body. Then she noticed her tail, swaying back and forth behind her, as if it had a mind of it's own.

Valerie stared at her reflection. That voice had brought her back to life, but it had brought her back as a cat!

Valerie did the only thing she could think to do at a time like this...scream. Loudly.

This, however, proved to be a very big mistake on Valerie's part. She heard a crash behind her and ceased her screaming. Her heart pounded in her chest. _Oh God, oh God, oh God,_ was all she could think.

A small red and black cat emerged from a pile of trash. A brown and orange one poked it's head out from inside a box of old, moth-eaten sweaters. A pure black cat sauntered out from behind the dumpster. Normally Valerie would have relaxed at the sight of them, but this was a different story. These cat were mangy and dirty. Their coats were dusty and shabby. The orange and brown one seemed to be missing an eye. The red and black one was covered in bald spots were parts of his fur were missing, while the black one had more fur than Valerie had ever seen. The black cat took a step toward her and, much to Valerie's astoundment, it began to speak.

"Was 'at you doin' all the screamin' out 'ere?" it asked in a dreadfully snide tone. It's Cockney accent was thick and its fur was matted, as though it had been soaked in mud. Valerie stared, her eyes wide in amazment.

"I think she's got 'erself a problem wit staring, Gundertone," a high-pitched, nasally voice said behind Valerie. Valerie turned her head and noticed the red and black cat was now about a foot away from her, staring at her with suspicion. The brown and orange one was standing behind it, staring at Valerie in a very different way.

"Well, seein' how good-lookin' she is, I don' mind much o' her starin' at me," the cat called Gundertone replied, his voice dripping with lust. Valerie's heart began to beat faster. Gundertone licked his lips and took another step forward. "Yessir, wouldn't mind you lookin' at me for a long time, so longs as I can look back..."

Gundertone reached out his paw, aiming for Valerie's chest. Valerie jumped backwards, only to hit the two cats standing behind her, knocking them over.

"Dunno why you'd wanna have 'er Gundertone," the red and black cat said, brushing herself off and rising to her feet. "Seein' how damn clumsy she is."

"Because, Hildabearth," Gundertone retorted, "when all me and Raldolfo got to choose from is queens that look like you, it's nice to have a bit 'o change."

The orange and brown cat, who must have been Raldolfo, smiled at this notion. He stared at Valerie with wide, hungry eyes. Valerie felt horribly exposed, wishing these ugly, disgusting cats would leave her alone. Suddenly, Gundertone placed a firm grip on Valerie's arm. Valerie, surprised by this unwanted contact, raised her paw and brought it down with a _smack _against his jaw. Gundertone grabbed his chin in pain as Valerie attempted to turn and run, only to be intercepted by Hildaberth. Her eyes gleamed with malice as she raised her paw to strike Valerie. But Valerie, acting on impulse, rammed her knee into Hildaberth's stomach. The cat doubled over, moaning in pain. This time, before she had the chance to turn and run, Roldolfo grabbed her slammed her into the side of the dumpster.

"You aien't gettin' away that easily, my sweet," he whispered. Valerie's head spun. _Oh God, _she thought frantically, _this cat is gonna rape me! _She closed her eyes and braced herself for any pain she feel...

But none came. Instead, Valerie heard a thud, like someone had run into someone else. Opening one of her eyes, Valerie saw what had caused the noise. A large silver and black striped cat was now on top of Roldolfo, biting and clawing at him. Suddenly, she heard more shouting and hissing coming from her right. Turning her head, she spotted two more cat, fighting against Gundertone. All of them were biting and clawing trying to either defend themselves or cripple their opponents.

Turning her head back to the striped cat, she saw Roldolfo charge toward it, baring his teeth. The striped cat was too quick however, and hit Roldolfo hard at his head. Roldolfo hit the ground, unconsious. Gundertone and Hildaberth turned their heads to their fallen companion and then to the cat standing above him. The striped cat glared at them, his piercing gaze and strong frame quite intimidating.

The cat strode over to Hildaberth and Gundertone. He brought his face within inches of theirs. Then he said one simply phrase to the frightened and bewildered cats: "Get out of here."

Gundertone and Hildaberth wasted no time. Running to pick up Roldolfo as they left, they were out of sight in a matter of seconds. As soon as the cats had left, the striped cat seemed to relax and turned, where he faced Valerie. Finally where she could see him, Valerie inspected him. He was definetly tall, about a foot taller than Valerie herself, covered in silver and black stripes, resembling that of a tiger. Hearing footsteps behind her, Valerie turned and, not really knowing why, hissed. The two cats who approached her know looked taken aback by this.

"You don't need to fear them, young queen," the tiger cat said calmly, his voice smooth and strong. "They, like I, only wish to see if you are alright."

_Why is everyone calling me a queen? _Valerie wondered. Nonetheless, she replied, "I think I'm alright. A little shaken, but I'm alright."

The tiger cat smiled in relief. Valerie felt a paw placed on her shoulder. Looking up, she her eyes met that of another of her saviors. This cat was just about as tall as the tiger cat, but was almost completely white, except for a few patches of black here and there. "Would you care for an escort back to your home, young queen," he asked politely.

Another of the cats, who was brown with leopard spots, with something resembling a mane resting on his shoulders, spoke up, inquiring, "I would like to know what a pretty young queen like her would be doing walking out here all alone."

"Tugger!" the striped cat scolded.

Tugger shrugged his shoulders and said casually "What's so bad about asking someone why they're all alone?"

Valerie blushed. Pretty, her? No boy had ever been this nice to her. Then a thought struck her: what was she supposed to say to them? _Hello my name is Valerie and I used to be human before I died and was reincarnated as a cat? _Not very believeable. Racking her brains, she tried to think of a suitable answer.

"Well...uh...you see," Valerie finally managed to stammer, the three cats staring at her expectingly, "I don't really have much of a home to go back to. I think at this point in time, I'm an orphan."

It was almost the truth, considering she'd never see her parents again. At this thought, Valerie felt warm tears come to her eyes, thinking about her parents crying over her dead body. She sniffed, trying to hold them back.

"She needs to come back to the junkyard with us," Tugger said abruptly. Valerie looked up at him, a little surprised by his statement. Go back to _where_?

"Tugger, I don't know..." the tiger cat began.

Tugger, not ready to give up without a fight, protested, "Munkustrap, we can't just leave her out here all alone. You saw what those henchcats almost did to her. If we leave her here, what to stop them from coming back and trying again?"

Munkustrap looked at Valerie with a conflicted look. He turned and asked the black and white cat, "What do you think, Alonzo?"

"As hard as it is to believe, I actually agree with Tugger." Alonzo stated. "You heard her, she's an orphan. She needs a good home. I'm sure Jennyanydots or Jellylorum can look after her."

_Jennyanydots? Jellylorum? What kind of names are those? _Valerie thought. This whole thing was getting very, very strange.

Munkustrap sighed and said, "I suppose you two are right."

Turning to Valerie, he said, "If you follow us, we will lead you safely back to the junkyard."

Munkustrap and Alonzo began walking, heading farther down the alleyway. Tugger scooted next to Valerie and, offering her his arm, winked at her mischieviously. She blushed, not used to this kind of attention from a man, and linked arms with him. They fell into step behind Munkustrap and Alonzo.

"By the way," Tugger said, "I don't believe you ever told us your name."

"It's Valerie," she replied without even thinking.

"A gorgeous name for a gorgeous queen," Tugger said, smiling flirtaitously. Valerie could feel her furry face become even hotter from embarassment.

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**Son of A/N: **sighs Oh that Tugger! What am I going to do with him? Sorry if this chapter was kinda long. But, hey, at least it's finally getting somewhere! You all know the drill: I will not be updating unless I get reveiws, blah, blah, blah! To all of you who reveiwed the first chapter I give thanks and digital cookies. You are all great in every possible way! To everyone who favorited this, you have no idea how happy you made me (your cookies have extra chocolate chips in them winks).


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Okay, sorry, I'm kind of random with these updates. But I get splurges every now and then, so it happens. Anyway, enjoy!

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As dusk was setting, Valerie, Munkustrap, Tugger, and Alonzo reached the outskirts of a seemingly desolate junkyard. The sky had turned lovely shades of purple, orange, and pink. Valerie would have stopped to admire it, had she not been so nervous. Would there be more cats in this junkyard they were taking her to? More male cats? Valerie didn't think she could handle it. She tightened her grip on Tugger's arm, which she hadn't released since they'd left the alleyway.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, Valerie, but do you think you could loosen the death grip just a little bit?" Tugger asked, a slight hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Oh...sorry, Tugger," she said, feeling the heat of embarassment filling her cheeks again. _God, I am I still going to be a walking disaster even now that I'm a cat, _she thought as she released Tugger's arm from her circulation-cutting grip.

"So, Tugger," Valerie asked, trying to sound smoother than she felt, "I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but is there a reason that...um...Munk...uh..."

Great. She couldn't even rememeber the tiger cat's name!

"Munkustrap?" Tugger guessed, as if it were as easy to remember as any other name.

"Yeah, that's it," Valerie said, feeling very stupid. "So is there a reason he didn't want me to come back to the...um, junkyard with you guys?"

As soon as Valerie saw Tugger's reaction to the question, she knew she probably shouldn't have asked at all. Tugger's face was now conflicted, as if he was debating whether to tell her the truth or not. Finally sighing a deep sigh, Tugger whispered the answer, "Well, you really can never be to careful about what cats you bring back to your tribe."

"Why is that?" Valerie asked, even more confused than before.

"Because it's hard to tell who's side they're on," Tugger whispered back. Valerie's face must have shown her confusion, because Tugger continued to explain.

"Okay, um...you know Macavity, right?" he asked. Valerie shook her head. Tugger looked a little shocked by this response, as if no one had ever answered no to that question before.

"Well, he's this really big crime boss. They call him the Hidden Paw because, no matter what crime it is, he never, ever gets caught. And he finds cats to work for him, usually ones that already have a pretty bad reputaion with the law. We call 'em henchcats. Those cats back there, they were henchcats."

Valerie raised her eyebrow. The world of a cat was proving to be just as confusing as the human world, if not more. But in a very odd way, all of it made a strange sort of sense.

"So...Munkustripe..." Valerie began.

"Munkustrap," Tugger corrected. Valerie smacked herself in the forehead for, once again, getting the tiger cat's name wrong.

"Yeah, him," Valerie said, pulling her paw down her face. "So, he basically didn't know if I was a henchcat or not?"

"Exactly," Tugger said. With that, without any warning, he flirtatiously tickled her under the chin. Valerie felt her knees go weak as a huge, goofy smile crept across her lips. But her moment of bliss was cut short when Munkustrap cleared his throat loudly, most likely to stop Tugger from sending her into space.

"And here we are, Valerie," Munukstrap said, motioning to what looked like the boot of an old, rusted car. But something seemed strange about it. As Valerie tried to figure out what it was, Munustrap and Alonzo walked up to it and Munkustrap knocked on it much like one would to a door. Nothing happened. Munkustrap knocked again, louder and harder this time. The sound of power-walking feet resounded from inside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," came a sing-song reply.

Then as if part of the boot was cut out, it opened like a door, and an older, but friendly-looking, cat stepped out. Its fur was a nice tannish color, with black and orange stripes all over.

"Well, what can I do for you boys this evening?" she asked in a light-hearted tone, laced with a proper British accent. Only after she had asked, did she noticed Valerie, standing behind the very tall Munkustrap and Alonzo, nearly hidden from sight.

"Oh, my goodness gracious! Who, might I ask, is this young thing?" she asked, scurring over to Valerie, examining her.

"Jenny," Alonzo said, in his usually polite tone, "this is Valerie. We found her in the alleyway about an hour ago."

"Well, come in my dear," Jenny said, taking Valerie's hand and leading her towards the boot, "and you boys, come in as well, and tell me everything.

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Valerie never thought the inside of the boot of a car could look so homey and...well, big. But then, she _was _cat-size now. Everything that looked small to her as a human would be ten times that size now. But still, had you not know you where inside a car boot in a junkyard, you would swear you were in a real house for humans. The interior was a soft, dark yellow, giving the room a cozy feel. There was even furniture; a sofa, a recliner, a table, kitchen appliances. All of it dazzled Valerie. She had no idea this was how cats really lived.

"...and so, we decided that we couldn't just leave her out in that alley by herself. So we brought her here," Munkustrap said, finishing the story of her whole ordeal with the henchcats in the alley.

"Actually, I decided we should bring her here," Tugger interjected. "The two of you needed a little more persuasion."

Valerie couldn't help but laugh. Munkustrap, however, shot Tugger a look of death. Obviously, Munkustrap didn't enjoy being upstaged by anybody. Valerie wondered if they were related, because they certainly acted like siblings.

"Well," Jenny, which she insisted Valerie call her, said, "I suppose she could stay here with us. We do have a spare bed in Jemima's room that used to be Demeter's. She could sleep there. More tea, Valerie, dear?"

Valerie, who had, once again, been pondering the strangeness of the names of the previously mentioned cats, jerked herself back into the here and now. Looking into her empty tea cup, she said, "No thank you, Jenny."

Suddenly, a soft thud sounded in the room. Valerie, Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Tugger all began to look around to see where the noise had come from. Finding no source, they looked at each other with confusion. Jenny, however, looked quite serene, with that look mothers get when they know their children are up to no good.

"Alright, Jemima, you can come out now," Jenny said to the air. "Come out and say hello to our guest."

From behind her, Valerie heard a soft rustling noise. Turning just slightly, she watched as a small red, black, and white cat edged her way out from behind the sofa. She was staring down at her feet, but lifted up her head, showing a small, young face with big golden eyes. Valerie thought she looked familiar, but she didn't know why.

"Valerie," Jenny said, "this is my youngest daughter, Jemima."

The kitten smiled at the sound of her name. She seemed to be looking Valerie over, inspecting her, examining her every detail. Valerie blushed slightly.

"I like the color of your fur," Jemima said abruptly. "The way your headfur hangs down like that makes you look really nice."

Valerie blushed even harder. She was liking this kitten more and more with every word she said.

"Well, thank you, Jemima," Valerie said. "Your fur is a pretty color too."

"Are you gonna stay here with us now?" Jemima asked, speaking swiftly. Well, the kitten certainly did change the subject quickly.

"I think so," Valerie answered. "That is, if your mama will let me."

Jemima looked over hopefully at Jenny, who nodded her head. The kitten squealed with delight and hopped up and down a few times.

"You can share my room with me!" she chirped happily. She dived next to Valerie and started to rub her head up and down Valerie's arm, purring loudly.

Jenny cleared her throat and Jemima turned her head to her. "Now Jemima, dear, we don't want to invade our guest's privacy. I think we'd best let her sleep in your room tonight and you can sleep with me."

"But mama..." Jemima began to whine. However, before she could even begin to plead her case, Valerie spoke up.

"I really don't mind Jenny. I'll share a room with Jemima."

"Are you sure, dear? You don't have to if you honestly don't want to..."

"Really, Jenny, I'll be fine."

Jenny sighed, partly due to defeat, partly due to exhaustion, and said, "Alright, if you don't mind."

Jemima again squealed with happiness and threw her arms around Valerie in an embrace. Valerie, who had not been expecting to get hugged by a kitten tonight, nearly fell out of her chair with surprise, catching herself in a rather awkward postion on the arm of the chair.

"Alright, Jemima, that's quite enough. Now you go off and get yourself ready for bed. I'll show Valerie to your room in a little while," Jenny said.

And with that, Jemima danced off down a hall Valerie hadn't noticed before, most likely because it had been behind her. Munkustrap, Tugger, and Alonzo rose to their feet and, bidding them goodnight, walked out the door, but not before Tugger stole a wink at Valerie before getting outside.

"Now, then, dear..." Jenny said, as she began scurrying around gather fresh linens and a pillow. But, suddenly, she stopped short. Her ears perked and her face slowly twisted in distain.

"Jenny," Valerie inquired, "what's wrong?"

A gentle "shhh" was her reply. Valerie listened and then heard it; footsteps were approaching. Valerie felt fear rising in her. What if it was that Macavity fellow Tugger had mentioned? Then, the door to the car boot opened slightly. Valerie inhaled sharply.

However all that came through the door were a pair of orange, black, and white calico cats, one quite tall and well-built, the other shorter and thinner, carrying two sacks over their shoulders. They were whispering to each other excitedly, until they noticed Jenny standing there, her hands planted firmly on her hips and her lips pressed into a scowl. At this sight, the two calicos seemed to shrink.

"Where _have_ you been?!" Jenny demanded. The two exchanged glances, trying to come up with a possibly good excuse.

"You leave the junkyard, tell _no one_ where you're going, you don't leave a note, and then you come home after you've nearly sent me into shock with two bags of pilffered things from your human's home!"

Valerie could tell from the calicos faces they were used to this speech they were recieving. The taller of the two, stole a glance at Valerie on its left, and did a double take before looking at her head-on.

"Who's she?" he asked, with a Cockney tone similar to that of the henchcats, but quite friendlier.

"This," Jenny said, calming down a bit, but still sounding rather annoyed, "is Valerie. Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Tugger found her in an alleyway and saved her from some lecherous henchcats."

Turning to Valerie, and sighing a little, she said, "These are my twins, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer."

"So...which is which?" Valerie asked. Upon hearing this, the female calico let out a giggle, prompting the male one to shush her.

"I"m Mungojerrie," the male cat said, pointing to himself, then motioning to the other cat, "and this is my sister Rumpleteazer."

"Alright, you two," Jenny said suddenly, obviously remembering she was supposed to be punishing the two calicos, "leave those bags here and go and get ready for bed. When your father gets home in the morning, this is something he must defiently hear."

The twins tossed the bags of stolen goods to the floor dejectedly, and walked with their heads down into the hallway Jemima had exited from. Valerie smiled to herself. She liked those twins. Tunring to Jenny, who was rubbing her temples, she said, "I'm guessing you go through a lot of those speeches with them?"

Jenny nodded. "I simply don't know what to do with them," she said, sounding very tired.

"Do they keep all that stuff they take?"

"No. Well, not all of it. They take a few things they really like and keep them for themselves. But I still wish they wouldn't do it. They've yet to get caught, but I'm afraid that when they do, they'll be in real trouble..." Jenny trailed off.

She seemed to realize she had before Valerie could say anything, shake her head, and say, while giggling, "Oh, listen to me, jabbering on. Come now dear, let's get you settled."

Retrieving the linens and pillow she'd put down, Jenny motioned for Valerie to follow her down the hallway. Down it, there were three doors, two on the left and one on the right. Going to the very last door on the left, Jenny stopped and opened it. Inside, Jemima sat on her bed, smiling wide. Valerie wondered if she'd been waiting there, listening the yelling and talking going on in the front room. While Jenny took about the task to make up the bed oppisite Jemima's, Valerie sat on Jemima's bed, waiting for her to finish. She could hear Jemima purring happily.

When she'd finished, Jenny said, "There, I think that will do. Now, Valerie, dear, should you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. And Jemima, don't ask Valerie too many questions, alright. She has to sleep too. Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight," they answered in unison. Valerie moved over to her bed, sitting crossed-legged on it. It was very soft, like it was full of feathers or something like that.

"So where are you from?" Jemima asked, nearly bouncing off her bed with excitment about a new roomate.

"Not too far away," Valerie answered. It was partially the truth. Her apartment had been on Brooks Street and she remembered passing by a junkyard a lot of times before.

"What tribe are you from?"

"Well...the Greywool tribe." Valerie said. Another semi-truth. Her last name was Greywool, so she had kind of come from a Greywool tribe.

"I've never heard of them," Jemima said, cocking her head slightly. _Oh boy,_ Valerie thought. _What am I supposed to tell her?_

Then a thought struck her. "Well, you probably won't anymore," Valerie said. "We were attacked today, by...a pack of dogs. I think I'm the only one who got away. That's why I was wandering around in that alley."

Jemima's eyes were wide as she asked, " Where they pollicles?"

Valerie nodded, even though she didn't have any idea what a pollicle was. She felt a little bad, lying to this young kitten. It just didn't seem right, but then neither did the truth. Valerie figured lying would just be easier than trying to explain the concept of reincarnation to a kitten.

"So what was your tribe like?" Jemima asked, still bubbly and cheerful.

"Wow, you _do _ask a lot of question," Valerie laughed. "Do you mind if I told you I kind of wanted to sleep?"

Jemima shook her head and immediatly borrowed under her covers. Valerie stood and pulled hers back as well, crawled under them, and wrapped them around her like a protective sheild. Jemima reached over and switched out the tiny bedside lamp on a nightstand to her right. The room was thrown into darkness. Valerie heard Jemima snuggle against her pillow.

"Goodnight," Jemima whispered.

Valerie smiled, wrapped in her blankets. She had to admit to herself, that out of all the things that had seemed insane or impossible to her just a few hours ago that now seemed all too real, Jemima was the best by far.

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**Son of A/N:**wipes away sweat Wow, believe it or not, this took me about two and a half days to write. It's partly because of school, but more because I'm extraordinarily lazy. So anywho, who wants to reveiw this chapter? Come on, you know you wanna...

Okay just a little personal veiw of myself, I think Jenny and Jemima were a little out of character. This may just be me, because after a few days working on the same chapter, you get a little sick of it. ut if anyone else thinks so, just tell me. Thanks, huggles, and kisses!


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Okey-dokey, time for more sporatic updates! Now for this chapter, I have a little warning. It has a little Victoria-bashing in it. I normally would not do this, as I love Victoria to pieces, but the characterazation was vital for the story to work. Trust me, you'll know what I mean when you get there. So anyhow Victoria-lovers, don't say I didn't warn you.

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Valerie's eyes fluttered open. Sunlight filled them quickly, causing her to yank her blanket back over her head. Did it really have to be morning already? And she'd been having such a nice dream too, herself covered in fur and living with talking cats in a junkyard. Now she was going to have to get up and trudge back to the bookstore, once again having to listen to Mary Sue chatter on about useless things until Daniel came in and started making-out with her...again!

Throwing her covers off herself, she prepared for the unwelcome sight of her apartment...only to find she was in a quaint bedroom. The bed oppisite her was empty, it's covers thrown haphazardly to one side and one of the pillows lying in the floor. The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear someone humming from the front room, accompanied by clanking pans and cooking food.

Her eyes widened. So, all of that hadn't been a dream. She really _was _cat-sized and she really _was _with talking cats in a junkyard.

Valerie sat up in the bed and stretched, cracking her back. Getting to her feet, she looked up to see her reflection staring at her from a mirror above Jemima's bedside table. Needless to say, she did not look very presentable. Her fur was sticking up in random directions and her headfur lookeed like it had gone into battle with an electric beater and lost terribly. She attempted to smooth it dowm, but it refused to deflate, each time popping back up to its original elevation. Sighing, she figured it would have to do.

Abandoning the mirror and opening the door, Valerie stumbled out into the hall. The humming became more audiable as she drew closer. Stepping into the front room, she quickly realized that, compared to the three other cats sitting at the table, she looked as though she'd just got done making herself over. Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, and Jemima's fur was just as bad, if not worse, than Valerie's. Smiling a little, she sat in an empty seat next to Jemima. Jenny turned at that exact moment with two plates of something that resembled pancakes, but Valerie wasn't quite sure.

"Good morning Valerie," Jenny chirped happily, placing the plates in front of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. "I hope we didn't wake you. I've been told I can be quite noisy when I'm in the kitchen."

"Oh, you didn't wake me Jenny..." Valerie began, but was cut off by the door to the boot opening wide. In stepped a tall, well-built tabby. It looked as though the cat had orange fur, but it was very hard for Valerie to tell, as he was covered from head to toe in dust.

The tabby turned around, his glass green eyes flashing with boyish excitment and proclaimed, "Good morning, everyone!"

With that, Jemima hopped to her feet and ran into the orange tabby's arms. The tabby lifted her off her feet in a warm hug and kissed her head. Jenny walked over to him and planted a kiss on his lips befire dashing back to the stove.

"Morning, dad," Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer said happily in unison as Jemima sat back down.

"What a night!" the tabby exclaimed in a thick accent that Valerie couldn't quite make out. "Three set-backs! Three!"

"Set-backs?" Valerie wondered allowed.

Mungojerrie nodded and said to Valerie, "Dad works on the Midnight Mail train. Keeps his eyes on the passengers and stuff like that. He loves it, thinks it's amazingly fun work."

Suddenly, the tabby sat down in the chair right of Valerie. Valerie only then noticed he was wearing a brown vest with a gold chain dangeling from one of its pockets. He reached into that pocket and pulled out a gold pocketwatch and checked it.

"Well, I certainly made good time getting back, despite numerous things going wrong..." he began to say, only noticing Valerie was sitting beside him. He stared at her for a moment with confusion and then with embarassment.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" he asked, clicking the watch shut. Now that he was speaking slower, Valerie could tell his accent was very Scottish.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," Valerie said, blushing. "My name is Valerie."

A large grin spread across the tabby's face.

"Well, welcome Valerie! I'm Skimbleshanks." he said, as Jenny placed two more plates down, this time in front of Jemima and Valerie, and a third in front of him.

Valerie took a taste of the grayish looking thing in front of her, and was surprised to find it tasted quite good.

Skimbleshanks then turned his attentions to Jenny.

"So, when did she get here?" he asked, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Last night," Jenny replied, then she flashed an icy gaze at the twins who took notice and shrank in their seats.

"And speaking of last night," she said slowly, "you twins came home with two sacks containing a string of Woolworth pearls, a set of jade earrings, and a winter vest, all stolen from their humans at Victoria Grove."

"Really..." Skimbleshanks said, turning his head slowly towards the twins, as they sunk down further into their chairs. Valerie could swear at least one of them was touching the floor by now. But instead of chewing the twins out as Jenny had, another wide smile plastered itself on Skimbleshanks' face.

"And how did that go?" he asked cheerfully. The twins, utterly delighted, tried to tell their father of their exploits the previous night, but they both spoke at the same time so quickly, no one could make out what they were trying to say. This didn't last long however, as Jenny promptly hit Skimbleshanks lightly, adding a shocked, "Skimble!"

"Uh, I mean..." Skimble stuttered at the twins, now trying to pretend to sound serious, "that was very wrong, you two! Very wrong indeed."

Jemima stiffled a giggle. Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie saw Skimble wink at the twins, who smiled wide in response. Valerie couldn't help it. She giggled too. She'd couldn't remember the last time she'd actually felt this much like laughing out loud.

Then, the door to the boot opened agian, this time allowing three new cats to enter. The first was tan, similar to Jenny, but its stripes were more black and brown than anything else. The next was almost completely brown, with some white and black thrown in. The third was, by far, the most beautiful cat Valerie had ever seen. Its fur was completely white, like fresh-fallen snow. Unlike the first two, who looked frazzeled, this one seemed extremely calm, as if nothing else was going on at that moment.

At the sight of these new-comers, Jenny smiled wide and threw her arms around the tan cat. The tan cat hugged her back warmly.

"Well, good morning to all of you," Jenny exclaimed happily. "Would you all care for some breakfast?"

"Oh, no time Jenny, no time." the tan cat said swiftly, holding out an afghan sporting a large hole. "The boys were playing tag in the house last night and well..."

"Oh tish-tosh, Jelly, we can fix that in a jiff! Oh, but before I do, I'd like you to meet someone." Jenny said, motioning the cat's attention to Valerie. "This is Valerie. She'll be staying with us for a while. Valeire, this is my sister, Jellylorum," motioning to the tan cat, "her husband Asparagus," motioning to the brown cat, "and their daughter and my neice, Victoria," stopping on the pure whit cat.

"Hello..." came Jellylorum's breathy greeting.

"Now, let's see if we can fix this up a tad," Jenny said, leading Jellylorum down the hallway.

When they were gone, Skimbleshanks fished a pipe and some matches out from his vest pocket. Turning to Asparagus, he said "Aspargus, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Alright, we'll go outside, so you can have your smoke. I know how much Jenny hates the smell."

Skimble laughed a little as they headed out the door, closing it behind them. So Valerie, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Jemima, and Victoria were left alone. Valerie squrimed an inch in her chair. It was awkwardly quiet. She really hated it. She realized, however, that Victoria was staring at her. It wasn't the way Jemima stared at her either. This was the kind of stare that Susan used to give Valerie on a daily basis. It was the stare that immediatly let you know that whoever was doing it didn't like you.

"Um...hi, Victoria," Valerie said. Maybe breaking the ice would make that awful stare vanish. But all it really got was a "hmph" as Victoria turned her nose to the air and gracefully sauntered out of the room and down the hall.

Slightly surprised, Valerie turned to the three cat still sitting at the table with her and said, "Um...what did I do?"

Rumpleteazer scoffed and said, "Don't even give it a second thought. She always acts like that, ever since she became of age."

"Of age?" Valerie said, once again confused.

"It's when you get old enough to get a mate," Jemima said. Valerie nodded, understanding now.

"And ever since it happened to her, she's been acting like she's better than everyone else. Especially to cats she doesn't know," Mungojerrie said. "I swear, she's turning into 'er mother more and more each day."

"I'm guessing you don't have a particularlly close relationship with your aunt, Mungojerrie." Valerie said, spearing more grayish thing.

"How'd ya guess?" he said sarcastically. "By the way, if you want, you can call me Jerrie. All my friends do it."

"And you can call me Teazer," Rumpleteazer added.

"Cute nicknames," Valerie giggled. "You come up with them yourselves?"

"Yeah," Jerrie said. "But it's easier than trying to say 'Mungojerrie' and 'Rumpleteazer' all the time."

Valerie shrugged and said, "I guess so. So, tell me more about this aunt of yours."

All three of the cats opened their mouths to speak, but quickly shut them as Jenny, Jellylorum, and Victoria came back into the room, the former two still fussing over the afghan.

"...looks like it'll be an all day job, now that I can't find that sewing needle." Jenny said, sounding slightly defeated. "Oh, but who will watch the kits if we can't?"

"What about Valerie?" Jemima piped. Valerie's felt her eyes widen. Just what had Jemima volunteered her to do?

"Oh, Jemima, no, we don't want to burden Valerie with a job like kit-sitting," Jenny said.

In the back of her brain, Valerie was thanking Jenny from the bottom of her soul. She didn't even know what kit-sitting was! She would have agreed with Jenny, but then she saw Jemima's face, which was hopeful and expectant. Something about that made her look even more familiar than before. Valerie smiled and said to Jenny, "Oh, Jenny that's alright. I don't mind doing it for you."

Jenny's face widened with surprise. She asked, "Are you sure, dear? The kittens can be quite a handful..."

"I'm positive, Jenny," Valerie said, winking subtly at Jemima, who smiled sweetly.

"Alright, well, if you really want to. Jelly, I'll go fetch my sewing bag and we'll get started on this," Jenny said, once again leaving the room with Jellylorum, and leaving the four cats alone. Victoria, however, did not leave this time, but stayed and stared coldly at Valerie, as if Valerie had just stolen something from her and was waving it in front of her face.

_What was that old saying about only fools being positive, _Valerie thought, getting frostbite from Victoria's stare.

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**Son of A/N:** See what I mean about the Victoria-bashing? Oh, well, I'm sure all you mature fans out there will be sensible enough not to flame me, right glares menacingly at any angry Victoria fans? And just because I enjoy useless trivia, this whole chapter took me about two hours to write.

So anyhow, see that little purple button down there. Click it. If you do, I'll give you candy...


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Just when you think you've finally gotten rid of me, I come back to haunt your dreams cackles. I wrote this with a runny nose bugging me, and now it's elevated into a freaking headcold! Pity me. So anywho, more updates for the masses from my snotty, pressurized head!

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_Okay, Val, you can do this, you can do this. There's nothing to fear about a bunch of harmless kittens. _

Even though Valerie continued to tell herself that, she wasn't quite sure she believed it. She'd been an only child, so she'd never baby-sat before in her life. Jenny had told her that there were five kittens she needed to watch, including Jemima; three queens, which were girls, and one tom, a boy. But Jenny had explained everything to her so fast, that was all she remembered about the kittens. She didn't even know their names!

Now, she waited with Jemima on an old tire for Jellylorum to come with the other kittens. Jemima was batting a piece of string dangeling from a junk pile. Valerie, smiled to herself. Maybe, with Jemima around, it wouldn't be so bad.

Valerie's thoughts were interupted by the sound of giggling and mild scolding from a distance. Turning her head toward the noise, she saw Jellylorum come from behind another junk pile, five more cats behind her. The first was a cat who looked about the same age as Jenny, with pale yellow fur and red stripes up and down its body. The cat was chatting away with Jellylorum about something. Valerie really couldn't tell because she was speaking so fast.

The kittens came in a single file line, one behind the other. The first Valerie saw was a short, tan cat who had similar markings to Jellylorum, except for a patch of brown over its eye. The second also had near identical markings to Jellyloum, except the huge grin on its face gave it a little more of a sweeter look. The next cat was, like Asparagus, almost completely brown except for its orange headfur. And, bringing up the rear, was Victoria, sauntering haughtily from behind the junkpile. At that sight, Valerie felt her stomach sink to her feet. The job had just become much more diffcult and she hadn't even started yet.

"Well, everyone," Jellylorum began, stopping in front of the tire, "this is Valerie. She'll be kit-sitting you for the day while Jenny, Dora, and I work on that torn afghan."

All the kittens, except for Victoria, looked up at the stranger with wide-eyed wonderment. Valerie again felt the heat of embarassment rise to her cheeks. She hoped they would stop staring at her soon. Luckily, Jellylorum cleared her throat and motioned to the striped cat beside her, "Valerie, this is Theodora. She's a friend of mine and Jenny's."

"It's very nice to meet you, Theodora," Valerie said politely.

"Oh, Valerie, dear, call me Dora," the queen said sweetly. "Calling me Theodora makes me sound so old!"

The kittens, once agian all except for Victoria, stiffled giggles at Dora's comment. Apparently they thought calling Dora by her full name made her sound old too.

"Well, we'd best be off," Jellylorum said, with something closely resembling a smile on her face. "Now I trust the lot of you are going to behave for Valerie."

"Yes, we are," the kittens chirped together, minus Victoria again. And so, taking Dora by the hand, Jellylorum, trotted off to the boot. Valerie looked at the array of small little balls of fur standing before her. They didn't look half as bad as she thought they would. This might just turn out to be fun after all. Stretching her legs and hopping off the tire, Valerie turned to address this group of kittens.

"Alright," she began, their wide little eyes following her every move, "now, I'm going to need you to tell me your names."

"Mum didn't tell you 'em," came a male voice from behind her. Turning to look, she saw Jerrie and Teazer, laying on the tire, their heads cocked to one side.

"Where'd you two come from," Valerie asked.

"Up there," Teazer said, pointing skyward. "From on top the pile. So mum didn't tell you their names?"

"She did," Valerie said, smiling a little. "She just said them so fast, I didn't catch them."

The kittens once again giggled, only this time out loud.

"Now, how about those names?" Valerie said, feeling her confidence rising. She started at Victoria and smiled wide. Victoria once again gave her the look of death. Valerie felt a chill go down her spine. Instead of letting it show, however, she looked at Victoria expectantly.

Finally, the white kitten sighed and said, obviously annoyed, "I'm Victoria. I'm the oldest cat here and I _don't _need a kit-sitter."

Nice and blunt. Still, Valerie widened her smile even more and said, "Well, then I guess you and I are just going to have to be good friends then."

Another frosty stare from the ice queen. As, Valerie moved down to the next kitten, the one with the brown patch on its eye, she could she Jerrie and Teazer about to burst from holding in their laughter at Victoria's expense.

"I'm Pouncival," the little tan tom said. "And I'm impossible."

Valerie laughed a little. "Who told you that?"

Pointing to Victoria, Pouncival said, "She did."

Valerie rolled her eyes. _That figures, _she thought. "Well, congradulations, Pouncival," she said brightly, beginning to realize how a kindergarden teacher felt.

Moving on to the next kitten. This time it was the mini-Jellylorum, with her huge grin still plasted in place. Her tail swished back and forth behind her.

"I'm Etctera," she said. She looked intently at Valerie for a moment before adding, "Jemima was right. You are pretty."

Valerie blushed again. She really wished the cats would stop saying she was pretty, lest her face turn a permanant shade of red. "Thank you, Etctera," she said softly.

Now, it was the brown kitten, who had gotten bored and was now batting at a fly that was buzzing around her head. She only noticed Valerie was standing in front of her when she swat the fly to close to Valerie's face, nearly taking off part of her nose.

"Oh, sorry," she said, blushing. "I'm Electra."

"Nice to meet you," Valerie said. "It's nice to meet all of you. Now..."

"Hey, what about me?" Jemima piped indignatly. Valerie turned to see Jemima's pouting face.

"I already know you, Jemima," Valerie said. The kitten smiled at the sound of name. Valerie then looked up at Jerrie and Teazer. They looked right back.

"We're just here to watch," Jerrie said, smiling devilishly.

"You're confidence in me is overwhelming," Valerie said. "Now before anything else happens, I have a confession to make, I have never kit-sat in my life before."

This time, all the kittens, including Victoria, stared at her in shock, as if that kind of thing was unheard of.

"Never," Pouncival asked.

"Not even once," Electra added.

"Nope. Not once. I was an only child," Valeire said, shrugging a little.

Then, out of nowhere, Victoria said, "Well, the first thing you have to remember is to tell my parents to mind their own business."

"Oh, don't you listen to her, Valerie," Etctera said, latching herself around Valerie's waist.

"And why is that?" Valerie said, giggling a tad at the kittens display of affection for a cat she'd known for three minutes.

"Because I like you," she squeaked. Jemima, Pouncival, and Electra nodded in agreement.

Valerie giggled to herself, but stopped when she heard more laughter coming from somewhere else. She looked at Jerrie and Teazer, but they were looking around trying to find a source for the laughter too. Suddenly, about three feet above all their heads, six furry heads appeared. Three Valerie recongnized on the spot as Tugger, Munkustrap, and Alonzo. The other three however, where new to Valerie. One was bright red, another was golden and black, and the third had sleek, brown fur. All three watched Valerie and the kittens from their junkpile perch as if they were some kind of sideshow.

"So you must be Valerie," the sleek female said, a mysterious, airy smile coming across her face.

"Thought you said she was pretty, Tugger," the red female said.

Before the heat could make its way to Valerie's cheeks, Tugger answered the queen. "She is pretty, Bomba. Can't you tell? Or are you a little blinded by jealousy?"

Valerie could see the queen didn't appreciate Tugger's comment, as her eyes narrowed and her ears settled back gently. Tugger, not seeming to take any notice, hoisted himself up and lept of the junk pile. He landed gracfully, his hands placed on his hips, and flashed a dazzeling smile. The kittens quickly crowded around him, the little queen's eyes overflowing with young love. Pouncival looked up at Tugger's face with adoration, as if Tugger were the world's greatest role model. Rumpleteazer practically threw herself off the tire and began to rub against Tugger's side. Even Victoria had abandoned her dignity entirely and had begun rubbing her head against Tugger's well-toned leg, purring happily. Jerrie still sat on the tire, watching both his sisters and his cousin swoon over Tugger, shaking his head. Valerie couldn't help it. She laughed.

"Your fan club, I'm presuming Tugger," Valerie said playfully, between fits of laughter. The only response she received was a casual shrugging of Tugger's shoulder's, as if he was saying "It ain't my fault!" Then, out of nowhere, Tugger reeled back his pelvis and thrust it forward. While the kitten queens seemed to find this extremely attractive, Valerie thought it was just hilarious. She laughed harder, nearly losing her footing and falling over. Reaching for the tire for support, she noticed the red queen, Bomba, was staring at her from on top the junkpile, as if she were insane for laughing at Tugger's flirtatious attitude.

Valerie planted herself next to Jerrie, who didn't seem at all interested in imitating Tugger's moves, unlike Pouncival, who attempted to duplicate them, failing miserably. The orange calico looked over at Valerie and smiled. _He's got a cute smile, _Valerie thought to herself. _Nice eyes too._

Valerie shook her head to clear her thoughts. She wasn't even going to start thinking about that kind of thing. To get her mind on something else, she looked skyward at the five cats still on the junkpile. She noticed that Bomba and the sleeker cat were staring at Tugger with as much affection as the kittens were. Every time Tugger would swagger his hips or thrust out his pelvis, they would sigh and swoon like little girls in love. Munkustrap and Alonzo, on the other hand, reminded Valerie a little of her grandmother, who'd gotten onto her once for wearing a halter top, saying it wasn't proper for a young lady to expose so much skin. Their faces were annoyed and all-knowing, with that "I-can't-believe-how-immature-he-is" look. Every now and again they'd shake their heads, especially when Tugger would pull of the moves that drove the queens wild. Then Valerie noticed the black and gold queen. She wasn't staring at Tugger in awe or shame, but she was staring at Valerie with something Valerie couldn't quite guess. Her eyes were wide, her face completely straight, her tail gently twitching back and forth. She looked almost spring-loaded; that if Valerie moved an inch, she'd fly ten feet in the air. Just when Valerie thought the queen would never stop staring, Munkustrap cleared his throat, causing Tugger to stop his show for the queens.

"Okay, Tugger, I think that's quite enough of your show-boating for one day," he said, smirking a little. "You keep making them follow your hips all over the place and they'll break their little necks."

Valerie and Jerrie laughed a little, but they were about the only ones. The kittens all began pleading for Tugger not to go, as he shooed them away gently. The five other cats jumped down from the junkpile and followed him to an opening in the junk. But before going completely out of sight, Tugger did one last hip swagger, causing all the kittens to squeal like groupies. Munkustrap shook his head and, with a push to the back, moved Tugger along before any of the kittens could go into cardiac arrest. Once he was gone, the kittens began chattering about the experience.

Valerie, still sitting on the tire with Jerrie, asked him, "So does he always do that?"

"Basically," Jerrie answered. "He has to be the biggest flirt in Jellicle history."

"Are you friends with him?"

"Sort of. I mean he talks to me and stuff, and he's an alright guy, but he's got a huge head. And the fact those queens swoon over him like 'e's the Everlastin' Cat don't really help."

"I can imagine."

Before Jerrie could open his mouth to speak again, the kittens came back over to the tire, looking dejected.

"Well, now that Tugger's gone, what are we gonna do?" Pouncival asked.

"How about tag?" Jemima said. The other kittens nodded in agreement.

"Who's 'it' first?" Electra asked.

"How about you, Victoria?" Etcetera asked, hopefully.

"Leave me out of your silly kitten games," Victoria said, sitting daintily on the tire next to Jerrie, who scooted over a bit, as if Victoria had some kind of contagious diease he didn't want to catch.

"Well, then who's gonna be it?" Jemima asked.

Suddenly, Valerie had an idea. Jumping off the tire, she shouted, "I am!"

No sooner had the words escaped her lips, all the kittens, even Jerrie and Teazer, had bolted in different directions. Valerie grinned to herself, but not before noticing Victoria giving her the evil eye.

_Not my fault you didn't want to play, princess, _Valerie thought, as she ran off in the direction she'd last seen Pouncival head in.

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**Son of A/N: **Hurray for being immature! Well, that was a fun chapter to write, even with a damn headcold. Although I wish I could have found more synonyms for "pelvic thrust"...

And now, I have a challenge for you readers out there, who just so happen to have accounts on I would love to see some illustrations for my story here (or my other story if that tickles your fancy...). But as I am the suckiest person to ever draw a stick figure, I can't do it myself. So anybody who wants to draw some illustrations for me, tell me in your reveiw that you'll be drawing it and then PM me when it's done. Thanks! And more chapters are on the way.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Oh, poor me, stuck at home with a headcold and nothing to do, but write fanfic for you people...yay! Anyway, time for more sporadic updating. Grand, isn't it?

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Valerie sprinted to the left, evading Pouncival's paw by inches. Making a sharp turn, she headed for an opening in the junk. Sweat soaked her fur, and she panted with each step.

"I'll get you Valerie!" the little tom called from behind her.

"Fat chance!" Valerie yelled back. She dove through the open space, sliding in the dirt on her knees. She knew Pouncival was not far behind, so she quickly sprang to her feet and continued to run. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a furry paw smack her in the shoulder. Valerie let out a small shriek and turned to find Pouncival behind her, a large grin on his face.

Confunded, Valerie stuttered, "How did...but I...you...how did you do that?!"

Pouncival pointed to the end of the junkpile she dived under to escape, which would have been about three feet from where the opening was. Valerie felt her jaw drop at her own stupidity.

"Looks like you're 'it' Valerie," the tom said devilishly, bolting away before Valerie had a chance to say one word.

_Way to go Valerie, _she scolded herself. _You were just outsmarted by a kitten!_

Before Valerie had time to kick herself more, she heard soft giggling coming from behind her. Turning to the source of the sound, she spotted a large, broken-down washing machine that was just big enough to hide a kitten or two. Turning on her heels to the direction Pouncival had left in, Valerie jogged around a large pile of junk. Then, on tiptoe, she moved back over to the washing machine. The giggling was even more audible now. Valerie, feeling quite clever, flung the door open, and stretched her paw inside. When it came in contect with fur, she shouted, "You're it!"

Out of the washing machine tumbled Etctera and Jemima, both looking rather dazed.

"So which one of you did I get?" Valerie asked, smiling wide.

Etcetera raised her hand slowly. No sooner had it reached the edge of her cheek, Jemima and Valerie had run off, leaving Ectera to catch them if she could.

The game of tag had been going on for at least an hour. And amazingly, Valerie didn't feel the least bit tired. She actually felt invigorated and, for the first time in a long time, happy. Much happier than she'd ever been with Daniel...

_Now quit that! _Valerie shouted in her brain. _Quit thinking about him! That part of your life is over!_

Valerie was so concentrated on running and getting her mind off Daniel, that she didn't even notice the three cats in a small group in front of her. At least she didn't until she collided with them like a bowling ball to pins.

A cocophany of painful moans and coughs sounded from the small, twisted pile of cats as the four of them tried to untangle themselves. A quick look at her surroundings showed Valerie that she was back at the tire, Victoria staring at her angrily from her rubbery perch. Finally, the other three cats managed to work themselves loose and one offered his hand to Valerie. Taking it and hoisting herself up, Valerie studied this new cat's face. Its fur was brown and gold and his face was drawn and thin. He looked at Valerie with an odd expression on his face, as if he was not quite sure what to make of this clumsy new queen.

"You alright?" he finally asked.

"I think so," Valerie said. "Sorry about that...my mind was on...other things."

"It's okay," another cat from behind the brown and golden one said. This cat was mostly white, but with patches of white plastered all over.

"Hey," a white and red cat left of the patched one said, "you're that new cat...Vera, I think Tugger said your name was..."

_Vera? Well, that maked me feel special and welcomed. _Valerie thought.

"It's actually Valerie." Valerie said. Before any of the other cats had a chance to respond a bright flash of light erupted inches away from Victoria. Valerie jumped back and yelped. A cloud of smoke lingered where the explosion occured and a thin black arm protruded from it, parting it to one side. A slender, grinning cat, emerged, his arms raised in what looked to be triumph. His fur was black and white, and looked very similar to the markings of a tuxedo. He looked rather charming with his arm extended to the air and his smile shining brightly.

"Oh, Misto, you scared Valerie," Victoria said, sounding more pleased than concerned. The cat, Misto, turned his head to look at Valerie, who was staring up at him, still in a state of semi-shock. His grin grew even larger as he lowered himself to the ground, coming a few inches taller than Valerie.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just showing Victoria a new trick I'm trying to perfect."

"And I loved it so much," Victoria oozed, her voice full of affection.

_Yeah you loved because it scared me out of my skin, _Valerie thought bitterly.

"Hey, what's all the screaming and explosions about?" a male voice from behind them asked.

The group all turned their heads to see the kittens, Jerrie, and Teazer all standing at an opening in the junk, looking very impatient.

"Excuse _me_, kittens," Victoria said, once again in her dignified adult tone, "we were trying to have an adult conversation before you so rudely interuppted us. So why don't you all just go off and play your silly little games..."

"Victoria!" Misto said, obviously surprised by Victoria's rudeness. Victoria tried her best to look totally innocent, which apparently won Misto over, as he bent his knees and gently rubbed his head against Victoria's arm.

Turning her head to avoid vomiting, Valerie noticed Jerrie was entertaining the kittens with a gagging motion directed at Victoria and Misto's blatant display of affection. Valerie giggled a little. Jerrie heard her and, turning his head to face her, began to exaggerated the motion, so it looked like he was strangling himself. To keep her lauhgter from being heard, she covered her mouth with her paw. Unfortunatly, the kittens did not have a similar thought, and laughed out loud at Jerrie's antics. Victoria turned her head sharply to the kittens, giving them her infamous stare of death. The kittens, however, didn't even seem to notice, let alone care. They continued to laugh. Victoria, finally growing sick of being embarassed, pushed herself of the tire.

"Come on, Misto, take me home," Victoria whined. With her nose high in the air, she linked arms with Misto, who looked less than ecstatic to leave his practice to oblige. But he still followed, being dragged along like a ragdoll. Valerie couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor littlen cat.

Before her thoughts could go any further, the gold and brown cat cleared his throat. The kittens turned their heads to him.

"Okay, Etctera, Pouncival, mom sent us to come get the two of you," he said.

"You too, Electra," the red and white cat said.

The three said cats moaned at the thought of stopping their game.

"Hey, no whining!" the patched cat said. "It's not our fault they got done with that afghan so fast."

"You mean the one you and Pounce trashed last night, Tumble?" Etctera asked sweetly. The patched cat, Tumble, blushed slightly, while Pouncival giggled under his breath.

"Yeah, that's the one," the gold and brown tom stated. "Now come on, we're gonna have to catch up with Victoria and Misto, or she may make up some stupid story about why we aren't with her and tells mom."

The kittens eyes widened at this notion, and they quickly fell into step behind Tumble and the other cat.

"Bye, Valerie!" the both shouted in unison, waving. Electra and the red and white cat headed in a different direction, and Electra waved wildly as they departed.

Turning to the cats behind her, Valerie asked, "So you think we should start heading back too?"

Teazer stretched, her claws kneeding the dirt, and said, "Yeah, probably. Unless we want another speech from mum."

Valerie saw Jerrie and Jemima shudder at the very idea as they began to walk in the direction of the boot.

"So, I met a lot of cats today, but I have no idea who any of them are. Mind filling me in guys?" Valerie asked casually, or at least she tried to sound casual.

"Which one first?" Jerrie asked.

"Ummm..." Valerie racked her brains to try and remember one. "How about the red one. Bomba Tugger called her."

"Oh," said Jemima, "that's Bombalurina. She's Electra's older sister. Theodora, that other cat who helped mama and Aunt Jelly witth the afghan, is their mama."

"I see," Valerie said. "I'm guessing that red and white tom is related to Electra too."

"Yeah, that's Plato," Jerrie said. "Theodora has four kits of her own: Alonzo, Bombalurina, Plato, and Electra. Her mate, Victor, died before any of us were even born. He was attackd by a pollicle."

"Oh dear," Valerie thought of the gory scene after being attack by a...whatever Jerrie said Victor had been attacked by. "So what about that brown cat that was hanging out with them."

"That's Cassandra," Teazer said, with a little hint of distain in her voice. "If there's anybody in this junkyard who's more convinced she's a gift from the Everlastin' Cat than Victoria, it's Cassandra."

"Come on, Teaze," Jerrie said. "She not that bad."

"You're just saying that because you've 'ad a crush on 'er forever," Teazer said, poking her twin's arm.

"I 'ave _not_!" Jerrie said defensively, but his blush gave him away.

"Well, at least not recently," Teazer said, turning to Valerie. "He's just now getting over that she's mated to Alonzo."

"Oh, shut up..." Jerrie began, but before he could finish his sentence, Valerie interuppted.

"So what about that other cat? The gold and black one?"

_And the one with the staring problem._

"That's Demeter," Jemima said. "She's our big sister. She's the mate of Munkustrap."

"She is?" Valerie found it hard to believe that such a nervous-looking cat could be mated to a brave individual like Munkustrap.

Teazer nodded and said, "Hard to believe, ain't it? She had a run-in with Macavity back before we were born. Dad told us she was never quite the same."

"A run-in?"

"Yeah," Jerrie said. "They never told us what happened though. The only reason we know at all is because we coaxed it out of grandpa Gus."

"Which ain't hard," Teazer giggled, prompting Jerrie to shush her.

"Now anytime Macavity is nearby, she basically goes into shock," Jerrie said.

Well, that explained her staring problem. Demeter obviously wasn't as eager to pursuade new cats into the tribe as the others.

"And those two with Etctera and Pouncival? Are they related?" Valerie asked, quickly changeing the subject.

"Uh-huh," Jemima said. "The one with the brown patches, that's Tumblebrutus, and the other one was Admetus."

"For kit's of Jellylorum and Asparagus, those four turned out okay," Jerrie said jokingly.

"Now if you can just figure out what happened with Victoria, you'll be set," Valerie added. The group laughed out loud, not really caring who heard them.

"So, that means that Admetus, Tumblebrutus, Victoria, Pouncival, and Ectera are all your cousins?" Valerie asked, despite the fact she was still panting from laughing.

"Yep," Teazer said, wiping away a tear.

"What about Misto?" Valerie asked.

Large grins spread across the three cat's faces. Rumpleteazer and Jemima giggled, as Jerrie explained.

"His full name is Mistofelees. He's the "original conjuring cat", according to Tugger. In other words, he's magical. You know how he appeared out of thin air and scared you?"

"Yeah," Valerie said quitely, remembering her moment of embarassment.

"That's just one of the things he can do," Jemima said excitedly.

"Unfortunately for him, Victoria managed to dig her claws into him," Jerrie said. "Now, he's basically head-over-heels in love with her. He'll do anything she says!"

"I noticed," Valerie said, remembering the poor magical cat being dragged away by Victoria. "Poor guy."

The cats nodded in agreement. Turning her head, Valerie noticed the boot coming into sight. As the got closer, Skimble stepped out, once again in his brown vest with the gold pocketwatch chain hanging from the pocket. He shouted something inside before closing the door, and turned, sporting a look of great relief. He then noticed the four cats, a wide smile spreading across his face. Jemima ran into his arms and embraced him in a warm hug. After setting Jemima back on the ground, he kissed Teazer's forehead and rumpled Jerrie's headfur.

"Off to work again, Dad?" Jerrie asked, attempting to smooth the headfur his father had messed up.

"Yessir," Skimble said in his deep Scottish brough. "And was I glad to get out of there. That Theodora is sweet and all, but if you aren't careful she'll talk your ear off."

Valerie giggled. She was really beginning to like Skimble.

"Ah, Valerie," Skimble said to her, "I hope the kits and the twins didn't give you too much trouble."

"Nope. Not at all," Valerie said, smiling. "In fact, it was actually really fun."

Skimble, sounding a bit surprised, said, "Well, I'm glad to hear it. An I'm sure Jenny will be too. It is rather difficult for her to find willing cats to kit-sit when she can't."

"I can't imagine why," Valerie said, stealing a wink at Jemima and the twins who were standing behind Skimble, trying not to laugh.

"Well, it's good to hear you enjoyed yourself," Skimble said, taking his pocketwatch and checking it, his eyes widening. "Ack, will you look at the time! I best be off to the station."

He turned in his heels and was about to walk off, but stopped and turned his head to face Valerie's.

"Um, can I ask you one more thing, Valerie?" he asked.

"Sure Skimble," Valerie said, walking up to him.

Speaking quietly, Skimble asked, "You didn't get any trouble from Victoria, did you?"

Valerie felt herself smile. Obviously, he was wise to Victoria's snobbery.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Valerie said.

Skimble smiled, nodded, and, once again headed off, his glass green eyes flashing in the late afternoon sun.

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**Son of A/N: **That's all folks...at least for this chapter. What will happen next? Will Victoria ever accept Valerie into the tribe? Will Tugger sweep Valerie off her feet? Will Teazer ever stop using the word "ain't" (dramatic music)? Tune in the next time I update to find out.

Okay, drama aside. This was probably not one of my best chapters. But that's just me! You loyal readers can judge for yourselves. And speaking of my loyal readers, I want to give you all special thanks. This has gone a whole lot farther than I ever expected because of you guys. Hugs for you!

And now, I bit you...(trumpets) _adeiu_!


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about the wait people. School is unforgiving like that. And the fact I am being threatened by a crazed writer (coughAdiSagestarcough) and her weasel spork army didn't help much. So, here you go, ya lovable wackos! More from the saga of Valerie Greywool.

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"Alright, Valerie, that's it. Knit one, pearl two." No matter how many times Jenny said these words to Valerie, they never seemed to stop the yarn she was trying to knit from doing something she didn't want it to do, such as getting twisted around the knitting needles or Valerie's fingers. Jenny had taken it upon herself to attempt to teach Valerie, Jemima, and Teazer to knit. So there the four of them sat, on the floor, with mounds of multi-colored yarn surrounding them. While Jemima seemed to pick up the skill rather quickly, Teazer and Valerie couldn't quite get it. Jerrie had been trying to contain his glee over the whole situation the entire evening, perched on the recliner, recieving icy looks from Jenny every time a giggle would escape.

"Tell me again, mum, why this is such an important thing for me and Valerie to learn," Teazer said through clenched teeth while trying to release her index finger from a trap of yarn.

"Because, dear, what if something like what happened to Jellylorum happened to you when you got older," Jenny said calmly. "You would have no idea what to do, unless you knew how to knit."

"So why couldn't I just take it to someone who did," Teazer muttered.

In the back of her mind, Valerie agreed with Teazer. She recalled back when she was seven that her grandmother had attempted to teach her to sew, using a speech similar to Jenny's, calling it an "essential life skill". But by the time the day had gone by and Valerie's fingers were covered in prick marks from where she'd stuck herself, she concluded that sewing wasn't as important a skill as her grandmother made it seem. Knitting was beginning to look that way as well. Valerie stole a glance at Jemima, seeing a scarf beginning to form from the lumps of green and blue yarn surrounding the kitten's legs. Looking at the mess she'd created from her yellow and red yarn, Valerie couldn't help but feel jealous from being outdone by a kitten.

"That scarf is lovely, Jemima," Valerie said. It was true after all. The colors blended together nicely, making it look like the ocean.

"Thank you. I'm making it for Daddy," Jemima said.

Then Jemima noticed the globs of yarn tangled around Valerie and Teazer's needles and said, "Do you want some help?"

"Actually that would be great, Jemima," Valerie said, smiling, ignoring Teazer's look of distain at the thought of her pride being jeprodized.

But before Jemima could scoot next to them, the door to the boot burst open. At the sudden noise, Jerrie fell out of the recliner with a yelp, landing in his mother's lap. The three girls burst into a fit of giggles as Jerrie quickly scurried back up to his seat. No sooner had he returned to his perch on the recliner, Munkustrap, looking dishelved and worn-out, came through the door. His headfur was a mess, sticking out in random directions, and he was panting hard, as if he'd run all the way there.

"Munkustrap, you look terrible," Jenny said. "What on earth is wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Jenny," Munkustrap managed to pant, collapsing onto the sofa. "But I do have some news for Valerie."

At the sound of her name, Valerie abandoned her knitting whole-heartedly and turned her attention to the exhausted tiger tabby. She wondered what news he'd brought for her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Teazer and Jemima had also completely lost interest in their knitting, staring wide-eyed and expectant at Munkustrap. Jerrie was leaning forward in the recliner to hear, nearly pitching himself forward. Jenny, although she busied herself with knitting, would shift her gaze to Munkustrap every now and again, obviously anxious.

Munkustrap cleared his throat, sat up straighter, and said, "Old Deutoronomy has agreed to see Valerie for acceptance into the tribe."

Jemima and Teazer squealed at the top of their lungs. Jerrie broke out into a large grin. Jenny threw her arms around Valerie.

_Just what exactly is so great about this,_ Valerie thought.

"Congradulations Valerie," Munkustrap said, extending his paw for Valerie to shake.

"Um...thanks," Valerie said, shaking his paw, although somewhat weakly. She had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Who was Old Deutoronomy? What was all this about getting accepted into the tribe?

While these thoughts swirled through Valerie's head like a whirlwind, the door of the boot opened again and in stepped Skimbleshanks.

Jenny, looking quited surprised to see her husband home so early, asked, "What are you doing back?"

"The train broke down. Whole dang thing just stopped moving. They had to cancel the shuttle tonight," Skimble replied, removing his brown vest and placing it on a coatrack next to the door.

"Dad, you'll never guessed what we just found out," Teazer said excitedly, as Jerrie moved to the floor so Skimble could sit in the recliner.

"And what's that?" Skimble asked, and noticing Munkustrap, added, "Hello Munkustrap."

"Deutoronomy said he'll see Valerie," Jemima said, as Munkustrap nodded a greeting.

"And she could get accepted into the tribe!" Jerrie added.

A wide grin spread across Skimble's face as he said to Valerie, "Well, congradualtions Valerie."

"Thanks Skimble," Valerie said, even though she was still totally lost on the whole situation.

"So when does he want to see her," Jenny asked breathlessly.

"Soon," Munkustrap said. "He said he within the next two days would be best."

"Oh heavens, Valerie this is so wonderful!" Jenny said, once agian wrapping her arms around Valerie in a bone-crushing hug.

"Well, I'd best be getting back home. Demeter has no idea I'm here," Munkustrap said, getting to his feet and heading for the door. "Congradulations again Valerie."

Valerie waved her thanks as he closed the door. As soon as it was shut, her thoughts began to race. What had just happened? It must be something good, because the others seemed really happy about it. And who was this Old Deutoronomy? Before Valerie had time to process any of these thoughts, Jemima and Teazer had their arms wrapped around Valerie from both sides.

"This is great, Valerie," Teazer said.

"Yeah, then you can live with us and be our big sister," Jemima said.

"Jeez, another girl livin' with us?" Jerrie said, smacking himself in the forehead with his paw. "When will the estrogen end?"

"Oh shut up Jerrie," Teazer said, teasingly punching her brother.

Valerie and Jemima laughed out loud, as Jerrie made an exaggerated pout, rubbing his arm as if seriously injured.

"What was that for?" he asked indignantly. "All I'm sayin' is that'd be nice to have another tom 'round here for once. Right, dad?"

"Oh, leave me out of this, son," Skimble said, casting a feigned worried look at Jenny. "Anything like that can and will definetly be used agianst me."

Valerie again laughed out loud. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jerrie turn his head and grin subtly, as if the sound was very pleasing to him. This was a little alarming to Valerie. If there was one thing she'd learned about Jerrie, it was that, with him, nothing was ever very subtle. It was then that Jerrie noticed Valerie staring at him quite stupidly, and cocked his head a little. Valerie blushed slightly under her dark fur as Jerrie began to concentrate intently on the floor. Luckily, Jenny came to both their rescues.

"Well, I think it's about time for the four of you to start getting ready for bed," she said briskly, setting down her knitting.

"Aw, come on mum, do we have to?" Teazer whined, she and her brother casting wide kittenish eyes at their mother.

"Yeah, daddy let us stay up. Please..." Jemima said, gently placing her head on her father's knees.

Skimble gave her an adoring look, but Valerie could see in his eyes that he was concocting something. He looked up at Jenny and smiled devilishly.

"Oh, Jemi, dear," he said, stroking Jemima's headfur lovingly, "you three can stay up as long as you want."

The three cat's faces lit up with joy. And then Skimble took Jenny's paw in his own.

"Your mother and I are just going to stay up talking about how much we love each other..." he said romantically, caressing Jenny's hand as she giggled coyly.

At the thought of their parents getting a little too intimate, Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima's faces contorted with a mixture of disgust and horror. Saying a quick "goodnight" to the both of them, they rose to their feet and bolted down the hallway. Valerie heard their doors slam as they shut themselves away from the nonexistent lovey-doveyness. Skimble loooked at Jenny and winked. Valerie was, to say the least, impressed. Then, not really knowing why, she began clapping for Jenny and Skimble's proformance. They looked at her and smiled warmly.

"Very, very nice," Valerie said.

"Glad you thought so, Valerie," Jenny said, gracefully placing herself on Skimble's lap, "but we never said we weren't telling the truth."

Valerie could feel her eyes widen. She could take a hint. And without hesitation, she took that hint and jogged all the way to Jemima's room with it.

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"Valerie...Valerie..."

She could her the voice saying her name. Was she dreaming?

"Oh, for Bast's sake Valerie, wake up!" came the harsh whisper Valerie quickly recognized as Jerrie's.

She felt herself being shaken by someone. She opened her eyes a crack to reveal three furry faces staring directly at her. With a small, quiet yelp, she nearly jetisoned out of her bed, throwing her covers to the floor in surprise. Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima all looked at her as if she were crazy.

"What the..." Valerie said, trying to get her heart rate down to a reasonable level. "Jerrie? Teazer? What are you two doing in here? What time is it?"

"Bugger if we know what time it is," Jerrie said, casually shrugging his shoulders, acting as if it were completely normal to come into someone's bedroom in the middle of the night.

"Okay, well, what is it? What do you guys want?" Valerie asked, laying back against her pillow.

"We couldn't sleep," Teazer said, as she began bouncing around in her spot on the floor. "Don't see how you can either, what with Old Deutoronomy wanting to see you in two days."

Valerie rubbed her temples and said, "Who exactly is this Old Deutoronomy fellow anyway?"

Valerie could swear at that instant, the three cat's jaws hit the floor in surprise. Had no one ever asked questions like that before?

"Well," Jemima began slowly, "he's the leader of the Jellicle tribe."

"Has been for a long time," Jerrie added. "At least since before any of us were born."

"Anyway," Jemima continued, casting a indignant look at her brother for interupping her, "he basically decides all the really important stuff, like who can join the tribe and who gets to go to the Heaviside Layer every year at the Jellicle ball."

Valerie was just about to ask what the Heaviside Layer and the Jellicle Ball were, but in order to avoid more funny looks, she decided against it, and instead said, "Oh, I get it. So, why does he want to see me?"

"He wants to see if you can become a Jellicle," Teazer said.

"How does that work?"

More wide-eyed stares. "Didn't anybody ever get accepted into the Greywool tribe," Jemima asked, cocking her head to one side.

"The what?" Jerrie asked, obviously confused.

"The Greywool tribe," Jemima repeated. "That was Valerie's tribe. They got attacked by a bunch of pollices and she's the only one left. Right, Valerie?"

At first, Valerie had no idea what Jemima was talking about. But then she remembered the story she'd told the kitten the night before about her false origins, and nodded and said, "Yeah. And there might have been some cats accepted into my tribe. I was proably just too young to remember who or when it was."

The three cats at her feet nodded, accepting her story.

"So about this acceptance thing..." Valerie began.

"Oh they basically just ask you a bunch of questions," Jerrie said, spreading out on his stomach. "What's your name, what was the name of your old tribe, why'd you leave. You know, stuff like that."

"Interesting..." Valerie said, and then asked, "Who else is going to be there?"

"It's usually just Old Deutoronomy, Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Tugger," Teazer said, scratching behind her ear.

And then, not really knowing why, Valerie asked, "Are Tugger and Munkustrap related somehow?"

"Yeah," said Jerrie. "They're brothers."

"Half-brothes," Jemima pointed out. Then suddenly the kitten covered her mouth with her paw and her eyes grew wide, as if she'd just made a very big mistake. Jerrie and Teazer cast her angry looks from both sides, causing the her to shirnk a little.

"Half-brothers?" Valerie repeated Jemima's words. "So they were born to different mother's?"

"Yeah," Teazer sighed, turning her head back towards Valerie. "That was _supposed _to be a secret, but now that you know we may as well tell you the story behind that."

"Okay," Valerie said. She was now quite interested in hearing this secretive tale.

"Alright, when Old Deutoronomy was younger, and I mean way younger than he is now," Jerrie said, "he had just become of age. He was bethrothed to this one queen, Carbucketty, a really small, thin, modest little thing. Well, two of Deutoronomy's pals decided that, since he was going to be mated soon, they should take him out for a little night on the town."

Valerie inhaled sharply. In every soap opera she'd ever unwittingly watched, nights on the town never ended well.

Still Jerrie continued his story: "So, they took him to this really sleazy club. The Friend at Hand, I think it was called. Anyway, there was a dancer there, a Jellicle named Grizabella. She had a pretty loose reputation 'round here, if you know what I mean. But Deutoronomy fell head-over-heels for her. He even...uh, Teazer, a little assistance if you please,"

Jerrie coked his head toward Jemima, who looked very confused by his plea to Teazer. Teazer, however, got the message, and quickly covered Jemima's ears with her paws.

"He slept with her," Jerrie said, nodding to Teazer, who released Jemima's ears.

"Oh, boy," Valerie said. "So, then what?"

"Well, for awhile, they just forgot about the whole thing. And then, one day, Grizabella showed up at Deutoronomy's door and said it...she was pregnant with his kitten."

Valerie felt her eyes widen. This was beginning to sound almost exactly like a soap-opera, except this had cats and no evil twins. Unless Jerrie had another interesting story he wanted to share with her...

"Wow," Valerie said. "So what did Deutoronomy do?"

"At first, he didn't know what he was going to do," Jerrie stated. "Naturally, Carbucketty was upset beyond belief and he was ashamed of himself for being so...well, dumb. But eventually he decided the noblest thing to do would be to mate with Grizabella to help her raise the kittens. So, the mate and then the kittens are born. She'd given birth to twins. And then she just left."

"What?" Valerie asked, dumbfounded. "What do you mean, she just left?"

"About two days after the kittens were born, Grizabella just left the tribe," Teazer said, taking over for her brother. "She just walked out the gate and didn't come back."

"Lots of older cats thought she didn't want the responsibility of motherhood, so she left before it could do her in," Jemima added.

_Wow, _Valerie thought. _Poor Munkustrap and Tugger. Just abandoned by their mother like that. _Then, a thought struck Valerie.

"Hey, wait," she said. "If Grizabella gave birth to twins, that would make Tugger and Munkustrap brothers, not half-brothers."

"Munkustrap _was _one of the twins," Jerrie said, lowering his voice. "But we didn't say Tugger was the other one."

"Then who was the other twin?" Valerie asked, feeling herself scoot closer to the edge of her bed. The other cats looked at each other, as if debating whether to tell her the truth or not.

Finally, Jerrie sighed and said, "Macavity."

Before Valerie even had a chance to react with surprise, they heard the door of the boot burst open again, this time with a loud bang. Jemima jumped onto Valerie's bed and into her arms. They could hear shouting coming from the front room. Someone shouting for Jenny, sounding frantic and disoriented. Valerie looked down at the twins, who looked back up at her with as much confusion on their faces as Valerie felt at the moment. Jemima dug her claws into Valerie's arm and looked up at her, her eyes wide with fear. Stroking Jemima's headfur as she did so, Valerie slowly swung her legs off the bed and onto the floor. The twins followed her, and Jemima followed them. And placing her hand on the knob of the door, Valerie turned it, opened it, and looked out into the front room...

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**Son of A/N: **Hurray for cliffhangers! Now I get to leave you people hanging. Don't ya love me!?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter my lovlies. What will Valerie, the twins,and Jemima see in the front room? Oh, you'll just have to wait and see...(cackles evilly). This chapter is specially dedicated to Adi Sagestar and her WSA, who don't like late updates...so we'll see how they fare with my cliffhanger of DOOM!

Toodles!

The Lavender Cat


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **I'm back! You didn't think I would just leave you on a cliff-hanger like that did you? Silly readers... Anyway, Lavender Cat, what have we learned today? Answer: Never do ANYTHING to pi off CATS fans. EVER! Well, anyway, without further ado, here's more of that story you people like so much.

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Valerie poked her head out of the door just far enough to see that the front room was ablaze with lights. She could see a very worried-looking Skimble and Jenny talking to a very frightened-looking Tugger and Bombalurina. Bombalurina was saying something, but was speaking in such a swift whisper, Valerie couldn't make out the words. Motioning for the twins and Jemima to follow her quitely, she placed her foot put the door and slowly and silently made it to the front room. As soon as they came into view, Jenny, Tugger, and Bombalurina dashed out the door.

"I'll see you when I get back Skimble," Jenny shouted, blowing him a kiss as she shut the door.

Even nodding his head and waving goodbye, Skimble did not look at all reassured. He rubbed his arms, as if he had become quite cold, and turned. Upon doing so, he spotted the four cats staring at him from the archway of the hall. He smiled at the sight of them.

"Did we wake you?" he asked light-heartedly, his voice completely mismatched with the look on his face.

"We...we heard the door burst open and shouting," Valerie finally stammered.

"We thought something was wrong," Jerrie added.

"Something is wrong," Skimble said. "With Demeter. She's sick."

Valerie could feel Jemima grab her hand and squeeze it tightly. Valerie squeezed right back.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Teazer asked, her face contorted with worry.

"I really don't know,dear..." Skimble drifted off, gazing past them, seeing something only he could see. It looked odd, seeing this strong, dependable cat, looking so scared.

"Skimble," Valerie said cautiously, reaching out and touching the tabby's arm. "Are you okay?"

Skimble shook his head suddenly, as if to clear an unwanted thought, and said to Valerie, "Yes, I'm quite all right. And I know we aren't doing much good standing around here."

Skimble started for the door and, turning to them, said, "Are you four coming?"

The four didn't answer him; they just fell into step behind him as he walked out the door into the darkness of the late night. It was Septemeber, and the chilliness of fall was beginning to set in. The sky was cloudless, so the bright cresent moon was casting eerie shadows everywhere in the quiet junkyard. Valerie could feel Jemima clutching her hand, as if it were some kind of gaurantee that everything would be alright. Allowing her eyes to stray from Skimble's back, she could see Teazer clinging to Jerrie's arm, either afraid of the dark or afraid for her sister. Valerie exhaled, her breath gathering in a cloud in front of her face. She hoped that whatever was wrong with Demeter was nothing too serious, if not for Demeter herself, than for her family's sake.

They followed Skimble for what seemed like an eternity, until they finally came to Munkustrap and Demeter's den. Had it been any other night, you would have mistaken it for a discarded, broken-down oven. But tonight, it was surrounded by other cats, all looking concerned for the two cats inside. Skimble craned his neck to look over the other cat's heads, which was not a difficult task, given Skimble's impressive stature. Valerie tried to do the same, but found she was far too short. She turned back to Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima, who looked quite dejected. Before she had time to say a word, Valerie felt herself being jumped onto from behind. Yelping quietly, she saw the little blob of fur attached to her back was Etcetera.

"Etcetera, easy," Valerie said, managing to loosen the kitten's grip from around her neck. "You nearly scared me out of my skin."

"Sorry," Etectera said, blushing slightly. Valerie smiled and rumpled the kitten's head fur. No sooner had she, however, did Pouncival and Electra scoot out from the shadows to join her. They were followed by Mistoffelees, Cassandra, Admetus, Tumblebrutus, Plato, a rather sleepy-looking Victoria, and three cats Valerie hadn't seen yet. The last three vaugely resembled Cassandra, with sleek fur and mysterious looks on their faces.

Victoria yawned and said, "What's going on that's so important they had to wake everyone in the middle of the night?"

"Something's wrong with Dem," Jerrie answered her, looking rather annoyed at the white kitten's lack of sympathy.

"Oh, dear," Cassandra said, casting a frightened glance at the den behind her. "Is she alright?"

"I hope so," Valerie said. "Jenny's in there with her now."

"And my mama, too," Etcetera piped up.

"Mine too," Electra added.

"Jelly and Aunt Dora are there too?" Mistoffelees asked.

"Aunt Dora?" Valerie asked. Mistoffelees didn't answer her.

"Whatever it is can't be good," Tumblebrutus said, a touch of fear in his voice.

Just then, they door leading inside opened, and out came Tugger and Alonzo, leading a pertrified-looking Munkustrap out with them, and Asparagus bringing up the rear. When they sat Munkustrap down on a small pile of junk, Valerie got a good look at his face. She could feel her eyes widen at the sight of him. He looked more scared than Valerie had ever seen anyone, his eyes wide and almost unblinking. His muscles were rigid and his face was totally neutral. Valeire could hardly believe this was the strong, agile cat who had helped save her life less than twenty-four hours ago. Out of the coroner of her eye, Valerie saw Skimble waving to Asparagus, motioning him to come back and speak with him. Asparagus saw the signal and worked his way back, while Tugger and Alonzo stayed with Munkustrap, attempting to console him.

"Well," Valerie heard Skimble ask Asparagus, "how is she?"

"She's passed out," Asparagus said. "She was in so much pain, the poor thing. Just moaning like crazy. Eventually it got to her, and she just passed out. Munkustrap was near hysterics in there. It was all we could do to force him out here."

Obviously, these were not the words Skimble wanted to hear. He sank back against a pile of junk, his paw pressed against his forehead. Apparently, Valeire was not the only one watching the exchange between the two toms. Valerie turned her head to see the other cats behind her looked as worried as she felt. They all knew that if Skimble was worried, it was definetly not a good sign.

"Admetus," Etcetera said, clinging to her brother's waist, "I'm worried. What if something happens to Demeter?"

"Hey, hey," Ademtus said, wrapping his arms affectionatly around his sister, "when have mom, Aunt Jenny, and Dora ever not been able to make someone who was sick better?"

The kitten thought for a moment and answered "Never."

"Not once," Electra added.

"Right," Admetus said, smiling wide, and then he began to speak in a mock-Scottish accent, trying to sound like Skimble, "Jenny's hasn't lost a patient yet. Even with of that Bast awful medicine of her's."

The kittens giggled. Valerie felt herself smile. Ademtus was really turning out to be a really sweet tom. As he continued to entertain the kittens, and even the older cats, with ridiculous faces and silly accents, Valerie's eyes wandered to the three new cats. The first one look the most like Cassandra, albeit her fur was a bit darker and she was definetly not as thin (which Valerie believed was impossible). The other two did not so much look like Cassandra as they look like each other. In fact, they were nearly identical, black in color with white and tan strips. They had the same misty expression, as if wrapped in some kind of deep contemplation.

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry Valerie," Cassandra said suddenly, breaking Valerie's train of thought.

"Huh?" Valerie asked.

"I forgot to introduce you to my sisters and brother," Cassandra said, sounding very embarassed by her mistake.

Motioning to the cat that looked similar to her, Cassandra said, "This is my baby sister, Exotica."

Then moitionging to the two identical cats, she said, "And these are the twins, Coriopat and Tantomile."

Exotica waved slightly and looked quite sheepish. Coriopat and Tantomile smiled and nodded in a creepy kind of unison. Valeire smiled back and said a friendly, "Hello."

Valerie was about to say more, but a paw was placed on her shoulder before she could say anymore. Turning, she saw it was Skimble, with Asparagus behind him.

"How is everyone?" Skimble asked.

"We're okay, Uncle Skimble," Tumblebrutus said, looking over at the oven. "Just worried."

"Well, there's no need for that," Skimble said, pulling forth his trusty pipe and leaning against a pile of junk. "Jenny, Jelly, and Dora are in there with her. I'm sure Demeter will be fine. Jenny..."

"Hasn't lost a patient yet!" the kittens chimed together. Valerie could see Admetus' face turn bright red as his joke backfired.

Skimble, however, smiled, nooded, and said, "Exactly. Say Asparagus, you wouldn't have a match on you by chance, would you? I left mine in my waist coat."

Asparagus handed the match to him, and Simble struck it against the brim of his pipe. The light from the flame danced against his ruddy face as he lit it, taking a few puffs to get it going. Jemima scooted close to Skimble and rubbed her head up and down his arm. He grinned wide and placed his arm around her shoulder. The kitten purred happily. And suddenly, to Valerie at least, the dark, cold September night did not seem so cold anymore.

The moment didn't last, however, as the door to the oven once again opened. This time Jenny came out, looking quite serious. Skimble immediately handed his pipe to Asparagus and walked up to meet her. When he reached her, he took her hand. She patted it, as if giving him some kind of reassurance. The whole group of cats waiting in the darkness grew silent waiting for her to speak. She opened her mouth, but before she could say one word, Munkustrap rose to his feet and began to bombard her with questions.

"Well?" he asked frantically. "What is it? What's wrong with her?"

Looking up at the tiger tabby with a wistful expression on her face, Jenny said, "Munkustrap, dear, there isn't anything wrong with Demeter. Nothing at all."

Her voice was clear and strong, resounding off the piles of junk surrounding them. Many of the cats exchanged confused glances, including Jerrie, who stole one to Valerie. Valerie shrugged in reply.

_What on earth does Jenny mean nothing is wrong? I thought Demeter was sick, _Valerie thought

Apparently, the same thought was going through Munkustrap's head, as he nearly shouted, "What do you mean nothing is wrong with her?! She was moaning in pain. She passed out for Bast's sake! There must be..."

Jenny held up her paw to silence the tom. He stopped, mid-sentence. Valerie noticed many of the kittens were staring at him with wide-eyed surprise.

"Munkustrap," Jenny began slowly, "what is happening to Demeter is perfectly normal for a queen who is expecting."

Munkustrap started to say something , but immediately shut his mouth as he processed Jenny's previous statement. His shoulders relaxed and his eyes grew wide.

"You mean..." he said, trailing off.

"Yes, Munkustrap," Jenny said, smiling now. "You and Demeter are going to be parents."

Valerie could feel herself smile. She looked around her and saw that just about every cat around her was smiling.

It was then, that Munkustrap broke out into one of the largest grins Valerie had ever seen. He placed his paw against his forehand, as if the excitement was making him dizzy. Which was easy to believe as he staggered a little.

"I...I'm...I'm going to be a father?" Munkustrap finally managed to stammer. Then, he wrapped his arms around both Jenny and Skimble. Both cats at first seemed surprised by this sudden affection, but after a moment they both hugged Munkustrap right back.

"You can go in and see her if you want, Munkustrap," Jenny said. "She's awake now."

Inhaling deeply, Munkustrap walked back into the oven, Jenny and Skimble following him. Left outside, the kittens all began to whisper loudly. The older cats sat off to one side, in a semi-circle.

"Oh Bast, this is so exciting," Cassandra mused, staring wistfully off into space.

"Yeah it really is," MIstoffelees said.

"I still don't see why they dragged all of us out of bed for that," Victoria said. "Couldn't they have waited until a reasonable hour?"

Without stopping to think, Valerie said, "Well, some of us were a little more concerned for Demeter's well-being than our beauty rest, Victoria."

At that moment, Valerie could swear every cat in that circle gave her a look of utter surprise, even Victoria. Valerie, at the moment however, couldn't care less. She continued to stare at the white cat with an accusing look, her breath coming out in steady, hot streams. She had just about enough of Victoria in general, and she didn't care how it made Victoria feel, she just had to say something, as no one else seemed to be willing to do so.

Victoria didn't stay surprised for long, though. Her eyes narrowed and Valerie could she her white, fluffy tail twitching in annoyance. Mistoffelees stared at her, wide-eyed and scared, as if Victoria might fly into a rage at any moment. However, she never got the chance, as Skimble, Asparagus, Dora, and Alonzo were within inches of the circle, chattering about the news they'd just recieved.

"Well," Dora began, "I think we've all have enough excitement for one evening. Alright, my darlings, let's start heading home. Are you coming back home with us tonight, Misto?"

The black and white cat nodded, rose to his feet, and took a step toward Dora, but Victoria held tightly onto his hand. He looked down to see what was slowing him down and saw Victoria rubbing her head on his hand, purring madly. Mistoffelees smiled at her, but it was not a smile of love, more of one for pleading, as if he were silently begging Victoria to let go so he could be as far from her as possible. Still he bent and rubbed his head with her own as a goodbye. Only then did Victoria release his hand, with a satisfied smile. Valerie could feel her eyes rolling at the sickening display. Looking around, she saw she was not the only one who felt that way. Jerrie and Teazer were both looked slightly sick to their stomachs and even the elegant Cassandra looked mildly disgusted.

When Dora, Electra, Plato, and Misto had disappeared behind a pile of junk, Alonzo turned to Cassandra and her siblings, and bowed at the waist.

"Would the fair lady care for an escort to her den," he said, smiling devilishly.

"Alonzo," Cassandra said, softly hitting his shoulder, "we live in the same den."

"Never said I was talking to you Cassandra," Alonzo said, his grin growing wider as he sauntered over to Exotica and slipped his paw into hers. "I was talking to your lovely sister."

Exotica's eyes grew wide at the compliment. Valerie felt hers do the same. This was a side to Alonzo she'd yet to see. He was being flirtaious and acting like, dare she even think it, Tugger.

"One problem, lover boy," Jerrie interjected. "She lives with you too."

The whole group, even Skimble and Aspargus, laughed.

"Aliright, fine" Alonzo said, shrugging and taking both Cassandra and Exotica by arm. "I'll just have to excort them both."

And so he did, leading the two sleek queens into the night, Tantomile and Coriopat following close behind.

"Well, I supposed we'd better head back too," Asparasgus said, casting a glance toward the night sky. "Everybody still here? Ademtus, Tumble, Victoria, Pounce, and Etcetera?"

Each cat stood at the sound of their name. Asparagus nodded approval and said to Skimble, "Congradulations again Skimble."

Skimble nodded his thanks as Asparagus led his family out of sight.

"So where's mum?" Teazer asked.

"She's staying with your sister," Skimble said, turning to his daughter. "Bombalurina and Jelly are too. They probably will be here more for at least a couple of days."

"Oh, daddy, this is so exciting," Jemima said happily. "I'm gonna be an aunt."

"Yes, you are dear," Skimble said, patting her head affectionatly.

Valerie smiled as she peered over to her left and saw Tugger sauntering away, whistling to himself.

_And Tugger's gonna be an uncle, _Valerie thought, twirling a claw in her headfur.

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**Son of A/N: **Gasp, gasp, pant, pant! Stupid outside world. Making me have responsiblities and stuff. Sorry this chapter took so long to put up people. To sum up for my tardiness, I'll say this: I hate school and school hates me right back.

Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me.

Cheers,

The Lavender Cat


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Here I am, back from Hiatus-oblivion! I managed to get this chapter out, despite the world's attempt to keep me away from my precious fic (hugs fic for leaving it for so long). Anyway, here ya go. Consider it my formal apology for the wait.

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Rain splattered against the window outside the boot. Valerie sat at the kitchen table with Jemima, Jerrie, and Teazer, the latter three extremely bored, and the latter two making no secret of it. Valerie knew they wanted desperately to get out of the boot and do something, preferably something that involved snatching items from their human's house. Valerie liked the rain, however, and was fighting every urge to run out of the boot and go dance in the shower that now fell.

She did a quick surveilence of the room. It was _not _a pretty sight. The sink in the kitchen was loaded with dishes from their breakfast that morning. Skimble had attepmted to recreate Jenny's grayish thing, but realized a bit too late that he had no idea what he was doing. So, Valerie, Jemima, Teazer, and Jerrie took over. Actually it had been more of Jemima and Valerie taking over, as Teazer and Jerrie seemed more concerned with flinging flour at each other than using it to make breakfast. But, in the end, there were five plates of steaming grey something or other on the table.

Turning her attention to the front room, she saw a mess of blankets draped over the sofa. The night before, Skimble had been so tired upon returning to the boot, that he barely had the energy to walk to his and Jenny's bedroom. Claiming he was only going to be resting his feet for a few minutes, he ended up falling asleep. Valerie had woke up during the night to get herself a glass of water and had spotted him, fast asleep, snoring a little. So she'd grabbed a few blankets that had been strewned over the recliner, and tossed them over the slumbering tabby. And he'd slept there the whole night through.

"Bast I am so _bored,_" Teazer whined, cast an empty stare up at the ceiling.

"I know," Jerrie said to her. "I hate it when it rains."

Valerie twirled her claw in her headfur and smiled to herself. Her thoughts wandered to Skimble, who at the moment was not present in the boot. He had gone to see if his train had been fixed. Valerie almost hoped it wouldn't, so he would stay here tonight and talk to her, Jemima, and the twins. He would sit in his recliner, smoking his pipe, not having to worry about Jenny's dislike for the aroma it gave off and smile in that wonderful way of his...

_Cut that out! _Valerie's brain screamed at her. _Skimble's married, you idiot! And he's far too old for you. So quit dreaming! Besides, you don't need another guy in your life after..._

Valerie's thoughts were interupted, thankfully, by Skimble, who appeared at that moment, sopping wet from the rain. He was breathing very hard, most likely from running to and from the station.

"Skimble you're soaked," Valerie cried, rising from her seat and walking up to the dripping tabby. She, however, was greeted by a mini-wave of water splashing in her face as Skimble shook himself dry and patted down his mussed fur. Hearing her gasp at the impact of the water, Skimble turned his head swiftly and smiled nervously, obviously embarassed.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry Valerie," he said, with small patches of red showing from beneath his bright orange fur.

"It's perfectly alright, Skimble," Valerie replied, grabbing a chunk of her hair and squeezing it, producing a small pool of water at her feet. "So, what's the news on the Midnight Mail?"

"Well, according to the station master, she'll be ready to go by tomorrow afternoon," Skimble said, practically bouncing to a seat at the table.

"They ever figure out what was wrong with it, Dad?" Jerrie asked.

"Had something to do with the engine, I think," Skimble replied. "I really am no good at all this mechanical mumbo-jumbo. I just make sure the passengers stay quiet. Oh, would you look at that! No sooner do I walk in the door, soaked to the bone, it stops raining."

And it was true. The rain had suddenly stopped and the sun was trying to poke through the thick grey clouds. Jerrie, Teazer, and Jemima's faces lit up with pure delight at the thought of getting out of the boot. Jemima instantly turned her head to Skimble and, with hopeful eyes, asked, "Daddy, now that it's stopped raining, can we _please_ go outside?"

"Yeah Dad," Teazer added. "We've been stuck in here all morning."

"Alright, alright," Skimble said, waving them off with mock annoyance. "But be back here in time to help me cook some dinner. We don't want another mousecake fiasco."

Jerrie, Jemima, and Teazer were out of the boot, as fast as bullets. Valerie turned on her heels and began to follow them, but stopped. Turning back to Skimble, she smiled and said, "I'll bring them back in time to help you Skimble."

"Thank you Valerie," Skimble said, smiling broadly. And as much as she hated to admit it, Valerie's heart fluttered.

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"Valerie, I need to walk into the city for a while."

No sooner had Valerie closed the door behind her, Jemima told her of her plans.

"You what?" Valerie asked.

"I need to go to the city for a while," Jemima repeated. "There's something there I need to do."

"Jemima, I don't know..." Valerie began, casting a glance at the boot.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease," Jemima begged, grabbing ahold of Valerie's waist and gazing up at her with her giant golden eyes. "I won't stay long. I promise I'll come back before dinner."

Valerie chewed on her lower lip, considering the kitten's request. She loved Jemima, absolutely adored her, but she wasn't sure if she trusted her enough to go into the city by herself. She thought of Skimble...

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and said, "Okay Jemima, but you must, must, _must_ promise me that you'll come back before dinner."

Jemima smiled broadly enough to rival with Skimble and squeezed Valerie's waist tightly, before dashing off to the gate of the junkyard.

"And stay out of trouble!" Valerie called. Jemima didn't seem to hear her, either too far away to do so or too excited to pay attention. Turning her eyes to the twins, she asked, "Skimble and Jenny let her go to the city, don't they?"

"Yeah," Teazer said, blowing a stray peice of headfur out of her face. "Sometimes her and Dad go together, but usually Dad's too busy with the train to go."

"So..." Jerrie began. But Valerie knew exactly what he was going to say.

"No, I will _not_ come along with you to steal stuff from your humans. Which neither of you are going to do," she said, casting a irritated-Jenny gaze at them. Jerrie gave her a you're-such-a-killjoy look, and she stuck her tounge out at him and said, "Hey, with Jenny tending to Demeter, someone's got to keep an eye on you. You know, make sure you don't steal something valuable and end up breaking or losing it."

The twins sauntered over to an old shipping crate and sat down on it. Jerrie placed his head in his hand and heaved a heavy sigh. Teazer fiddled with her headfur. Valerie was about to come up with some kind of witty remark, but when she opened her mouth, a suave male voice from behind her said, "So, being a kit-sitter again, are we Valerie?"

Valerie turned and was not surprised to see Tugger behind her. She was, however, surprised to see his small entourage, usually composed of kittens or the older female cats, was missing. He was compltely alone.

"Hey, we don't need a kit-sitter," Jerrie said indignantly.

"Pretty much, Tugger," Valerie said, ignoring Jerrie. She moved a piece of headfur behind her ear. "So where's your fanclub?"

Tugger shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Dunno, but it is nice to actually get a moment to myself."

"Yes," Valerie said. She then struck a dramtic pose, throwing the back of her hand against her forehead in mock distress. "I suppose it is quite difficult to be beautiful."

Tugger smiled and playfully punched her in the arm. Valerie laughed and looked over her shoulder at Jerrie and Teazer, who were busy babbeling about something.

"He likes you, ya know," Tugger said so suddenly Valerie almost didn't hear him.

"What?" she said. "Who?"

"Jerrie," Tugger said. "He likes you."

"Are you serious?" she asked, a bit dumbfounded.

"Yeah. Well, at least I think he does. It's pretty easy for me to tell when a cat likes another cat."

Valerie laughed in relief and said, "Oh, so you don't know for sure. You're just guessing."

"Well, sort of. I have a pretty good eye for crushes..."

"Seeing how you deal with them so much in a day..."

"No, I can just tell when a cat likes another cat. It's really a bit of a gift. I don't think I've been wrong once."

"Well, you certainly don't have a fat head."

He said nothing, but stuck his tounge out as a retort. Valerie had to admit to herself, he'd had her worried for a minute. She really would have had no idea what to do if Jerrie really did have a crush on her. She'd never been to good when it came to handling boys. At least not ones she wasn't already such a good friend to that they could see her as nothing short of a sister.

"I think your gift may be a tad off this time Tugger," Valerie said, stealing a glance at Jerrie, who was still chattering to Teazer, pleasantly oblvious of their conversation.

"Alright," Tugger said. "Suit yourself."

Valerie was about to retort, when a crash sounded behind them. Jerrie and Teazer's voices instantly silenced as all four cats snapped their heads in the direction. Out from a pile of junk sprinted Jemima, heading for the boot. She was apparently disoriented and unaware of were she was running, because she crashed headlong into Tugger, nearly sending him crashing to the ground. But Tugger grabbed ahold of her arms firmly, as she panted uncontrolablly. Taking a closer look, Valerie saw tears streaming down the kitten's face like tiny rivers. Her fur was almost completely soaked and the pants, Valerie realized, were actually deep sobs.

"Whoa, take it easy, Jem," Tugger said gently, as Jemima thrashed about trying to get free from Tugger's strong grip. But his attempt at comforting words only made Jemima more frantic, and she sobbed harder.

"Jemi, what is it?" Teazer asked, lowering herself off the crate, Jerrie following her.

Jemima didn't answer, but continued to thrash. Giving herself one good tug, she yanked her arms free from Tugger's grasp and ran to the boot, flung the door open, and ran inside. Tugger, Valerie, Teazer, and Jerrie ran in after her.

"Jem..." Valerie started to say as they entered the boot. But Jemima had already taken refuge in her father's arms, and Skimble was now stroking her headfur gently, attempting to calm her.

"Jemima," Skimble cooed gently, "what is it, love?"

"Oh, Daddy...it..." Jemima stammered, only to be cut off by another loud sob. She dug her head into Skimble's chest.

"What, dearest?" Skimble said placing his paw under her chin and lifting it to meet his eyes. "Whatever it is, you can tell me, and I'll promise to try to make it right."

"Daddy, nobody can make it right." Jememia choked out, a fresh stream of tears rolling down her face.

"What do you mean?" Skimble said in a very concerned tone.

"You...you remember that nice human lady at that store we would go to sometimes?" Jemima asked. Valerie felt her eyes widen. Surely Jemima didn't mean...

"The thin one with black headfur?" Skimble asked, almost sounding like he didn't want to know. He didn't notice Valerie grab hold of her own headfur and twist it.

"Yes..." Jemima stopped, took a deep breath, and cast her gaze into space, staring at nothing.

Valerie was about to take a step toward Jemima to make sure she was okay, when Jemima burst out, "She's dead! She got hit by a car two days ago, trying to save me. She died because of me, Daddy!"

Jemima once again buried her face into Skimble's chest. He smoothed down her headfur some more, but was now doing it rather vacantly. Valerie felt her stomach and brain lurch forward, making her feel sick. Simble and Jemima were Dusty and Rosie?

Loosening his hug on his daughter, Skimble slowly slid his arms off hers. "Jerrie, Teazer," he said, sounding hallow. "Will you calm your sister down? I...I need some fresh air."

As Skimble stumbled out the front door and closed it behind him, Valerie's knees buckled, and she reached out to balance herself against the nearest object, which, in this case was Skimble's recliner. Her head was spinning and she was barely thinking straight. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Jerrie and Tugger had led Jemima to the couch and Teazer was in the kitchen, getting the kitten a drink of ater the stifle her sobs. Valerie suddenly felt extremely out of place in all this confusion, feeling that, in a way, it was all her fault. She found that she was having difficulty breathing, that she needed to get out.

Silently, she edged to the door and opened it. Casting a glance at the others to make sure she had not been heard, she slipped out. Once she'd stepped into the sweet-smelling autumn air, she heaved a heavy sigh, placing a paw to her pounding forehead. The silence she so desperate to find wa interuppted, however, by the sound of stifled sobs. At first, Valerie thought it was Jemima, inside the boot, crying again, but they soudned closer and a far more masculine. Looking nervously to her right, she spotted, at the end of a junkpile jutting up like a fence next to the boot, was its source. Skimble.

His hand was pressed against his face, he was biting his lower lip, and his broad shoulders shook. Valerie felt a pang of sorrow. Seeing this strong tom in such pain...it tore her to shreds. She'd been lying to hima nd Jemima this whole time. She'd been lying to everyone in the tribe. How could she even think about seeing their leader now?

A thought struck her then. She would have to leave. Tonight if possible. She could never stay here and manage to look at herself. Not after she'd caused all this pain. But before she did any of that, she had to clear the air. She owed that to Skimble and his family. And so, taking a deep breath, she walked up to Skimble.

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**Son of A/N: **Okay, now even I think this is cruel! Leaving you guys on another cliff-hanger, after I just came back from hiatus. Geez, I'm evil. But sadly, it must be done! But thankfully, I am (partially) off my hiatus and am (sort of) free to write again! I promise, I'll try and be speedy with the next chapter.

Also I would like to dedicate this chapter to Candlewick, who not only loves this story, but drew a wonderful picture for me! If you would like to see it, go to Devaint Art and look for "A New Life" (it took me a while to find it so don't sweat it).

Toodles until next time,

The Lavender Cat


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: **It's a new chapter! Everybody do the new chapter dance! Or you could just read it. Or both. Any of those work.

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Valerie's heart pounded in her chest as each of her steps brought her closer to Skimble. An arm's length away, she stopped and considered what she was about to do. What would Skimble say? Would he just fall apart even more than he had? Valerie hated herself for causing him this much pain already. How would she be able to live with herself if she caused him more?

_It has to be done, _Valerie's brain said to her. _You owe him that much._

Inhaling deeply, Valerie reached out her hand and tapped Skimble lightly on the shoulder. He immediately swung himself around to face her, causing Valerie to jump back from surprise. Realizing who it was he'd jusst frightened, Skimble cleared his throat and wiped the tears that had been streaming down his face away.

"Oh, Valerie...I..." he began to stammer. He obviously had not been expecting anyone to come out and bear witness to his heart-felt sobs.

"Skimble," Valerie said gently, looking into Skimble's watery eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes..." Skimble stammered again. "I was just...I...needed fresh air and..."

Valerie cut him off. "You don't have to lie to me Skimble. I saw you crying."

"You did?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

_Well, go on, _her brain yelled at her. _Tell him what you came out here to tell him._

But before Valerie could begin, Skimble had started to speak again.

"I've done this a lot before," he said, lowering his head. "Found a quite place and just..."

"What do you mean, Skimble?" Valerie asked, before he could finish his sentence.

"It seems," he said, "that things I tend to care about are often the things that leave me."

"Skimble, what do you mean?" Valerie repeated, beginning to get worried. Even though she'd only known Skimble for a short while, she knew this was not a normal thing, for him to be speaking this way.

"I've had my loved ones die before, Valerie," he said. "And every time, it's nearly destroyed parts of my soul."

"Skimble, everyone dies," Valerie said. It was probably the worst thing she could have said at the moment, but it was the truth.

"Most don't die because of the stupidity of one of their family members," Skimble said, sounding a bit angry.

"What?" Valerie was confused. "Skimble, what are you talking about?"

Skimble took a deep breath and said, "When I was a boy, not much older than Jerrie is now, I had a younger sister. Her name was Sadina. I loved her so much, Valerie. She was a better friend to me than any tom I'd ever met in my life." Skimble drifted off then, as if the whole thing was too painful to continue. But Valerie needed to know.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

"One day," Skimble continued, "a few of our friends and us were playing down by the gates of the junkyard. We'd always been told never to do that, but we were young, thought we were invincible, that nothing could hurt us. But we were wrong. Dora, she couldn't have been much older than Jemima, ran off. Sadina went looking for her. They both came running back to where we were, being chased by a rabid pollicle. We all ran, ran for our lives. Sadina..." Skimble choked a little as a fresh tear rolled down his cheek. "One caught Sadina by the ankle and was about to attack her. I, being the young idiot I was, thought I'd play the hero and save her. All I did was nearly get killed by a pollicle and got him riled up enough to rip Sadina to shreds. I still thank the Everlasting Cat I was unconsious for that. I blamed myself when I found out what had happened to Sadina and I still do. And then there was Sillabub..."

"Who's Sillabub?" Valerie asked.

"She was my daughter," Skimble said, keeping his gaze directed into space. "Demeter's twin sister. She was a wonderful little thing. She and Demeter such imps. Always getting into trouble. But one night, just after they'd come of age, they wondered off. I had just started working at the station, usually getting back pretty late. It was winter so night came early, and snow had fallen. No one had seen them all day when I got back. So me and some of the other toms went looking for them. We found them..."

"And," Valerie could feel her arms shaking with anticipation.

"We found them, not too far from where Sadina had died. Demeter had been...raped. All she could say was Macavity's name."

"Macavity raped her!" Valerie nearly shouted. She couldn't believe it. No wonder Demeter had stared at her with such an accusing look. "But what about Sillabub?"

At the mention of his daughter's name, the tears once again began to form in Skimble's eyes. "She was dead, Valerie. Her throat was slashed."

Valerie heard herself gasp as she grabbed her own throat. Hate burned in her soul. How could anyone be so depraved, so cruel as to harm someone else like that? It was sickening. Valerie hoped she would never meet this Macavity, or she would probably try to kill him on sight. Then, all at once, pity washed over her. Pity for Demeter, having to go through that kind of treatment. Pity for Jenny for having to see her own daughter dead. And for Skimble, having to find both of his daughters that way, one beaten and raped, the other dead.

"And now this girl that cared so deeply for Jemima and I," Skimble said, his tears flowing freely once more. "She always treated us so well, and we didn't even know her name. Everyone around me just dies."

Valerie could no longer help herself. She reached out her hands, placing one on the top of Skimble's head, the other on his chin, and lowered his head down to her chest. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him, as tenderly as a mother would her child. He sobbed harder now. She began to rub her paw through his headfur, attempting to calm him.

"Skimble," she finally said. "All those things that happened, they didn't happen because of you. That pollicle was rabid. There was no stopping it. And you had no control over what happened to Demeter and Sillabub. And as for that girl..."

"Yes..."Skimble said, lifting his eyes to meet Valerie's.

"She..." Valerie began, but stopped. Did she really want to do this? But looking into Skimble's eyes, she knew the answer had to be yes. "She's right here in front of you."

Instantly, Skimble's sobs ceased. He pulled himself away from Valerie's tender grasp and looked at her, studying her. "What in Bast's name are you talking about, Valerie?" he asked finally.

"Skimble," Valerie said slowly, "that girl was me."

For a while, Skimble was completely silent. He seemed to not know what to make of what Valerie had just said. When he finally did speak, all he did was ask one word.

"How?"

"Well," Valerie began, "I'm really not sure. I remember the day it happened though. Jemima was about to get hit by a car, so I ran out after her. The car that nearly hit her hit me instead. I remember how much it hurt. Then the pain suddenly stopped and I felt like I was falling. Falling through this warm, bright tunnel. And then a light started talking to me, telling me I had saved another living things life and I deserved to be rewarded. It gave me a second chance, Skimble. A second chance to live. And the next thing I knew, I was in that alleyway where Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Tugger found me."

"I can't believe it," Skimble said abruptly. Valerie was a bit taken aback. He didn't believe her? How could he not believe her after what she'd just said. But then Valerie had to admit to herself that the whole thing did sound a little crazy. If fact, really crazy. But it was still she needed Skimble to believe her more than anything else in the world right now.

"I know it sounds completely ridiculous, Skimble, but it the truth," she said.

"I'm sorry, Valerie, but I just can't believe something like that," Skimble said, turning his back to her.

Valerie was beginning to get angry. Why was he being so stubborn? She realized that the only way to get Skimble to realize she was telling the truth was to hurt him.

"I know why you don't believe me," Valerie said, sounding a little more venomous than she wanted. "Because you hate to think that I really am lying to you. For whatever gain I could possibly have, you think I'm using it to use all this pain you feel to my advantage and get something I want out of you. I thought you had a little more faith in me than that. Well, I guess I was wrong in thinking I could ever trust you with something like this. I'm sorry I ever even came out here." Now to deliver the final blow. "Dusty." she nearly spat.

She could see Skimble's spine straighten at the sound of the name. His ears perked a little. He turned to face her and Valerie could see how wide his eyes had become. He opened his mouth as if to say something to her, but closed it, and instead stared at her, taking her in. "How could you..." he began to ask. Valerie didn't give him time to finish.

"How else? I couldn't ever lying to you Skimble. I'd never want to."

Skimble said nothing. Instead, he opened his arms and enveloped her in a large hug. Valerie wrapped her own arms around Skimble in response. At that instant, Valerie made her choice. She was staying in the junkyard. She could never leave after all this. And so, instead of thinking of a way to tell Skimble she was leaving, she concentrated more on his warm, fatherly hug.

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_The alley that Valerie sprinted through was dark, wet, and cold. With each labored breath, her insides screamed in pain. Her side felt like it was splitting open. She clutched something in her arms, but it was far too dark to see what it was. Steering her eyes away from whatever she carried, she looked upward to see a soft glow just ahead of her. If she could just get to that light..._

_But her feet had other plans. She felt her left foot collide with her right, and she tumbled down to the hard, frost-covered concrete. Whatever she'd been holding tumbled from her arms on impact and rolled away. She began to scramble to her feet, but felt that she was definetly not alone. Turning, she saw two huge things in the shape of cats loom before her. One was tall and sleek, the other shorter with wilder headfur. The shorter one raised its paw. Valerie could see its long, twisted claw, aiming for her neck. The shape brought it down. Valerie shrieked, knowing no one would hear her..._

Valerie jerked herself up. Her breath came in steady, uneven heaves as her heart raced in her ribcage. Cold sweat drenched her fur. Swiftly lifting her head, she sighed with relief at the sight of Jemima sleeping soundly, her little chest rising and falling rhythmically. The kitten was blissfully unaware of the nightmare that had just plauged Valerie's mind.

Tossing off her covers, Valerie tiptoed to the door and opened it without making a sound. She walked into the hallway and slowly made her way to the front room. Reaching the end of the hallway, she groped in the darkness for the lamp that sat to the left of the couch. Feeling the shade, she edged her hand down and flicked it on, filling the room with a small, but strong, light.

She walk dutifully into the kitchen and to the sink. Reaching into the cupboard above it for a glass, she poured herself some water and slowly began to guzzle it. She halfway drained it when she heard her name.

"Valerie?"

Spinning around, Valerie came face to face with Rumpleteazer, standing in the archway leading out of the hallway, looking very tired.

"Sorry, Teazer," Valerie said. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"I just heard someone get up," Teazer said walking over to the table. "I just wanted to see who."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Teazer," Valerie said, taking another drink of her water. She recalled her grandmother using that phrase when her cousin Adam decided to try to fly by jumping off the top of his father's truck. All it really did was get him a broken leg.

"You sound just like mum when you say that, ya know," Teazer said, smiling at Valerie and twirling a stray piece of headfur on her finger.

"Can't imagine why," Valerie said, dumping the rest of the water into the sink. "She really does worry about the two of you. You know that right?"

"Yeah," Teazer sighed. "Of course we do. It's just so hard to not do what we do. And it's not like we have ever hurt anybody."

"She's still afraid that, one of these days, your're going to get careless," Valerie said. "That one day, you'll slip up and that will be the day your humans have had enough."

"I guess. But Jerrie and me, we just can't help ourselves," Teazer said, looking away from Valerie.

Clearing her throat a bit, Valerie's thought wandered to Mungojerrie. She remebered the day she had kit-sat for the first time, how he had smiled at her. A large, toothy smile that looked slightly ridiculous, but in a way, oddly attractive. And his eyes...

"Does Jerrie like me?" Valerie was shocked to hear herself ask the question.

Teazer gave her an odd look and answered, "Yeah, 'course he does. We both do."

_No turning back now, Val. _"No I mean, does he...you know, have a crush on me?"

Teazer's eyes widen just a little. "Where'd ya hear that?"

"No one," Valerie decided not to drop Tugger's name in this instance. "I just...kind of...got the feeling."

"Oh," Teazer squirmed ucomfortably from foot to foot and bit her bottom lip. She seemed to be debating with herself whether to tell Valerie the truth or not. Before Teazer's personal torture session continued, Valerie spoke up again.

"You know what, Teaze," Valerie said. She realized she was still holding on to her water glass. Setting it in the sinking, she continued, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Teazer relaxed when she heard this, her shoulders drooping just a bit. Smiling, Valerie began to walk to the hall. "Guess I was just curious."

"Curosity killed the cat, Valerie," Teazer said jokingly.

At that, Valerie stopped and looked over her shoulder at the calico queen, her tail swinging behind her in amusement. It only took until Teazer had disappeared in front of her into her bedroom that Valerie realized she'd been stung by her own metaphor.

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**Son of A/N: **Zing! Man, Teazer has got some wit. Anyway, there's another chapter done! We're getting closer and closer to getting it done. So, until that time, see ya!


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Yes I am back! You may cheer and applaude now! Anywho, my haitus is over and done with, so I am free once again to be a freaking, fanfic-writing hermit! What joy!

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"Valerie, will you play tag with us?" Even though Valerie's eyes were closed, she still knew Ecetera was creeping up next to her. With each word, the kitten's voice and purring grew louder. Cracking her left eye open a bit, she could see her senses had been right. Ecetera was now parrallel to Valerie's face, while Pouncival, Jemima, and Electra sat near her feet.

Valerie stretched from her lying position on the tire. She felt her spine crack after being still for so long. "I'm sorry guys," Valerie said, half-yawning, "but I'm way too tired." It was the truth after all. After her and Teazer's talk in the kitchen the night before, Valerie hadn't been able to get back to sleep, so she'd tossed and turned for the majority of the night. She'd finally settled on a postion, only to have Jemima waking her what seemed like seconds after she'd become comfortable. She'd gone through the morning in a daze, barely even noticing when Skimble asked her to kit-sit while he was at the station. She'd groggily agreed, but found it impossible to even catch a quick nap with the jumpy kittens begging her to play with them every two seconds.

"Aw come on, Valerie," Pouncival asked, pouting slightly.

"Sorry, Pounce," Valerie said, getting into a sitting postion. "That face only works with Jemima." Upon hearing this, Pouncival elbowed Jemima, who immediately jutted out her bottom lip in a pout as well. Valerie laughed, "I _was _kidding, ya know."

The two kittens pouts turned into annoyed scowls. They obviously had no patience for a lay-about such as Valerie today.

"Come _on_," Electra moaned. "You've been laying on the tire the whole time!"

"I'm tired," Valerie said, laying back down and closing her eyes. "I barely slept at all last night. I'm so nervous about this whole acceptance thing and..."

Before Valerie could finish her sentence, the kittens all squealed with delight. The sudden noise made Valerie jerk herself back up, looking to see of Tugger had appeared and caused the sudden outburst. But he was nowhere to be seen. Valerie looked back at the kittens with confusion.

"You didn't tell us you were getting accepted!" Ectetera chirped.

"Jemima didn't tell you?" Valerie asked, surprised. She had figured that Jemima would have told the kittens the second she had the chance after finding out.

"No," Electra said, turning her head to Jemima. The latter kitten blushed.

"When is Deutoronomy going to see you?" Pouncival asked, hopping up on the tire.

"Tomorrow," Valerie said.

"Oh Bast Valerie, this is so exciting!" Ectetera cried, wrapping her arms around Valerie in a warm hug.

"Yeah," Valerie said. "But I am so nervous. I mean, what if they find a reason not to let me join?"

"Oh no," Jemima said suddenly. "They will! They must! You're an orphan. They have to let you in."

"And besides," a suave male voice said from behind them, "what reason could we possibly find to not let you join, Valerie?"

The group turned to see, as they had expected, Tugger, leaning against a nearby pile of junk. The kittens, once again, squealed with delight as Tugger sauntered over to the tire and palnted himself next to Valerie, taking the chance to tickle Ectetera under the chin. It looked like, to Valerie, that Ectetera might faint right on the tire, but the kitten managed to hold herself up.

"Excited, Valerie?" Tugger asked, placing his arm around Valerie's shoulder.

"Not as much as I am nervous," Valerie said, gently lifting Tugger's arm and placing it back to his side. Smiling devilishly, Tugger laid back and stretched in the mid-afternoon sun.

"Relax," he said. "You're almost guaranteed."

"I hope you're right," Valerie said. Suddenly, something hit her in the head, making a sharp pain resound thourgh her brain. She looked up to find out what it was. She saw nothing above her. Just as she was about to confirm to herself that she was losing her mind, she noticed Tugger and the kitten were focused on something laying on the tire. Shifting her gaze in that direction, she saw the cause of her headache. An old pillowcase, full of odds and ends. Valerie felt a smile crawl across her lips as she shouted, "Okay you two, we know it's you. Come on down." And, from atop the pile of junk behind them, popped two furry, orange heads, both looking rather guilty, but gleeful.

"Sorry about that Valerie," Jerrie yelled down to her. "Teaze lost her grip."

"Only 'cause you bumped into me," Teazer said defensively."Too busy admiring the scenery?"

Jerrie blushed. Valerie noticed that he shot a quick glance and grin at her before tossing his own pillowcase down, making sure this time not to hit anyone, and lowering himself down onto the tire behind Valerie. Teazer did the same and grabbed her pillowcase, placing it in her lap.

"Get anything good?" Tugger asked.

"Not much," Jerrie said, opening his pillowcase and shifting through its contents. "Some silverware, pair of slippers, and a hairbrush."

"I got the lady's ring," Teazer said proudly, holding the small sapphire ring for the group to see.

"Mama says you two shouldn't steal stuff from your humans," Jemima said, looking at the ring as though it might come to life and bite someone.

"Relax, Jem," Pouncival said. "They aren't going to get caught."

"We're just that good," Jerrie said, his grin growing wider. When she saw him do that, Valerie felt her heart speed up a little. She hadn't a clue why, but every time Jerrie's face lit up with that grin, she nearly melted.

Teazer had once again started digging in her pillowcase and pulling out items she'd snatched, this time a compact mirror with powder. The kittens were studying it, fascianted. Barely noticing, Valerie felt Jerrie scoot himself closer to her, trying to make it seem nonchalant. Valerie felt herself get a little hotter when she felt Jerrie's body heat growing stronger as he got closer. She tried to act as if she hadn't noticed, gazing off at nothing in a different direction. All she really saw was, out of the corner of her eye, a huge, triumphant grin on Tugger's face.

_Oh God, _Valerie thought frantically._Tugger was right! This is awful. How can I stop this?! Move away, you ninny! That should get it through his head! This is the last thing you need, especially now!_

Valerie attempted to scoot herself closer to the edge of the tire, but her body didn't respond. Biting her lower lip, she screamed at herself to move. Still nothing. Luckily for Valerie, a large flash erupted to Jerrie's left, sending both him and Valerie to the ground in surprise. Smoke dangled in the air, thick and strangely scented. From the screen of smoke, emerged Misto. Valerie remembered when she'd first met him, when he came out of the smoke dramatically, showing off for Victoria. This time, however, Misto looked frantic, jerking his head to every side, like he was looking for something. Taking one look at him, Valerie could tell, and guessed the others could too, that he more or less looking for someone. Or hiding from someone.

"You guys haven't seen Victoria, have you," he said, panting slightly.

"Why?" Pouncival asked. "Can't find her?"

"Well...uh..." Misto began. "Not exaclty."

"Um, Jemima," Valerie said, sensing what Misto was about to say as she and Jerrie got back on the tire. "Why don't we play hide and go seek? I'll count and the rest of you hide, alright." Nodding in pleasure at the thought of the game, the kittens began to scramble about. Valerie covered her eyes with her paw and began to count, "One...two...three...four...five..." When she heard four pairs of paws scamper away, she removed her paw from her eyes and looked back at Misto. "Make it quick, they won't buy this for too long."

"If I didn't know any better, Misto," Tugger said, a knowing grin spreading across his face, "I'd say you were hiding from Victoria."

"I am not!" Misto cried. But his blush gave him away.

"Trouble in paradise, Misto?" Jerrie asked.

"Shut up!" Misto said, sounding more like he was pleading than commanding.

"Misto, if you don't want to be with Victoria, why don't you tell her instead of trying to run away from her?" Valerie asked.

"Because running's more fun," Teazer said, tossing her pillowcase aside. "Makes Victoria look like an idiot."

"I _do _want to be with her. That _is not _why I'm running from her," Misto said wearily, plopping down on the tire next to Teazer.

"Thought you weren't?" Jerrie said, feinging a look of confusion.

Glaring at him angrily, Misto said, "Fine. I am. But it's not because I think it's fun to trick her like this. She's just..."

"What?" Valerie asked.

"She's just taking everything so fast!" Misto cried, crossing his legs. "I mean, when we're together, it's great, but half the time, all she wants to talk about is getting mated at the next Jellicle Ball."

"So what?" Jerrie asked. "She's the oldest kitten. Why shouldn't she?"

"Key word: kitten," Misto said. "She's still a kitten. Honestly, how happy do you think she'll be once she gets mated at her age."

"Dunno," Jerrie said. "But Bast knows _we'll_ be happy when she's mated."

"Jerrie, he's being serious," Tugger said. "Victoria would never be happy if she got mated now."

"Exactly," Misto said.

"So why don't you tell her that?" Valerie asked.

"Because..." Misto began, but trailed off. Obviously, this was not a question he'd thought about. "Well...I...you see, Valerie...Victoria is a...very sensitive queen...and if she thought..."

"You're scared out of your mind of her aren't you?" Valerie said flatly.

"I...uh...yes," Misto finally sighed.

"Not like we couldn't tell," Teazer said.

"Thanks, Teazer," Misto said, casting her an annoyed look before uncrossing his legs and laying on his back on the tire. "Can you tell me something that might help me?"

Silence was the only answer that met Misto's question. Even Tugger, who bragged about his success with any queen, was totally silent.

Valerie couldn't take it anymore. She stood and hopped off the tire, landing squarely on her feet. "Well, if I don't get seeking, those guys are gonna think I forgot about them. Wanna help?" The four cats still left on the tire stared at Valerie with suprise. "What?"

"Wouldn't that be cheating?" Tugger asked, lowering himself off the tire.

Valerie smiled and said, "They never said I couldn't get help. And besides, they're probaly spread out all over the junkyard by now. It'll take me forever to find them on my own."

One by one, the other cats matched Valerie's smile and lowered themselves to the ground. Misto was the last off, and as soon as his feet touched the dirt, the four bolted in different directions.

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It just so happened that it took longer than forever to find all four kittens. The sun was beginning to drop to the horizon when Valerie finally made it back to the tire with Jemima in tow. Electra, Ecetera, and Pouncival all sat on the tire looking dejected, but somewhat pleased that the game had lasted so long. Tugger, Teazer, Jerrie, and Misto all sat on the ground, looking tired. Misto looked particualrly exhausted, covered in dirt and laying on his stomach. Looking up and spotting Valerie with Jemima, he sighed in relief and asked, "Are we done?"

"Getting tired, Misto?"Valerie asked bending over his head and smiling.

"Yes," Misto said bluntly. "But I do actually feel pretty good."

"Exercise will do that to anybody," Tugger said, getting to his feet and stretching. Teazer and Jerrie did the same, then walked over and grabbed their pillowcases, slinging them over their shoulders. The kittens hopped off the tire.

"I think we should start heading back," Valerie said, casting her gaze skyward at the darkening view.

"Yeah, probably," Misto said, stretching as he got up.

"So, Pounce, Ecetera," Valerie said. "Where's your den?"

"That way," Poncival said, pointing to his right. And so, the group began in that direction.

"Where are you gonna hide that stuff so Uncle Skimble won't see it," Ecetera asked, eyeing the pillowcases Teazer and Jerrie held.

"Probably under our beds," Teazer answered. "Dad's a lot easier to hide stuff from than Mum."

Valerie had barely thought of Skimble all day. She recalled yesterday. They had decided that Skimble should be the only one who knew about her past. It would be best to save both of them a lot of explaination. After that, Valerie had felt so wonderful to know that someone knew about her now. She didn't feel like she was living a lie. Now she could concentrate on the more imporant matter at hand: this whole acceptance thing.

"So when does this whole acceptance thing happen," Valerie asked Tugger, since he was going to be there.

"Tomorrow, around noon," Tugger answered. "All we basically do is ask you a bunch of questions."

"Sounds easy enough," Valerie said. She was about to ask more, but, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Misto had stopped and was gazing off at something. Turning back around, she said, "Misto, what's wrong?"

The group turned to see what Misto was looking at. When they did, Jemima, Electra, Ecetera, and even Teazer gasped in shock. Jerrie and Pouncival's jaws nearly hit the gorund. Tugger put his hand on Misto's shoulder. Valerie could barely believe what they were seeing.

A few yards away from them, totally unaware she was being watched, was Victoria, laughing and smiling. But she wasn't alone. She was sitting in Plato's lap. And her lips were locked with his.

"What the..." Misto mumbled, just loud enough for the couple laying on the ground to hear. It obviously startled them, as Victoria shrieked right into Plato's ear, causing him to drop her flat on her rear end.

"Victoria!" Misto shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Misto..." Victoria had obviously not planned on seeing him here. "I...I...can explain."

"Go ahead," Misto said.

"I needed a change, Misto," Victoria said, regaining her lost composure.

Valerie could tell this was not what Misto wanted to hear as he dejectedly hung his head and said under his breath, "I thought you loved me..."

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**Son of A/N: **-sniffs; cries- Oh, poor Misto. See I told you I made Victoria a reall bi inh this story (just wait on that note, she gets worse!). Anywho, sorry about the wait with this chapter. A lot of things kept me from my baby, such as sickness, a play, and a one-eyed- one-horned, flying purple people eater...wait...no that was because of the drugs.

Anywho, Happy (early) Holidays to all. Consider this chapter my gift to you readers out there!

Happy Holidays,

The Lavender Cat


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Hello, hello! Welcome again to the wondiferous "Masterpiece Fic Theatre"! When we last left our heroine and her companions, they had just discovered the treachery Mistoffelees had on his hands...paws...whatever. Anywho, now that I'm done with all my drama and such, on with the show -grabs popcorn-!

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"Why do I always fall for the bad girl?"

As Misto said this, more to himself than to the cats surrounding him, he slumped down against the couch in the boot.

"Hey," Tugger said, taking a sip from the glass of water he had, "you didn't know she was a bad girl."

Scoffing a bit, Misto replied, "I knew she wasn't good."

Valerie, who was at the stove, waiting for the water to boil to make tea, silently agreed with Misto. Stealing a quick glance in the direction of the couch and recliner, Valerie did a quick sweep of its present company. Misto sat on the couch with Tugger, who was seated on the arm of it, while Jerrie and Teazer sat in the floor. They had all come back to the boot after leaving Victoria and Plato, both quite dumbfounded, and, after making Misto comfortable, Valerie and Tugger had gone to take the kittens back to their dens. Jemima was now absent, staying the night with Ecetera and Pouncival, promising that they would give Victoria a hard way to go when she returned.

The tea kettle whistled, interuppting Valerie's thoughts. Grabbing it, she poured the water into the five mugs, all with little white tea bags inside of them. As, the water turned brown and began to smell vaugely of mint, she set the mugs on a tray and brought them over to the others. Luckily, tea-making was one of the few domestic traits Valerie possesed.

Grabbing one mug, she offered it to Misto. The small black and white cat looked up at her. His eyes were tiny, blue, and full of pain as he said, "Not to be rude, Valerie, but do you have something a little stronger?" Valerie heard Tugger sigh and watched him stretch out his arm and Misto his glass of water. "Oh, thanks, Tugger." Misto tilted back his head and began to slug the water down. After getting about half of it down his throat, he stopped and gave the glass back to Tugger, saying, "Alright, let me rephrase. Why do I always fall for the girl I _know _isn't any good?"

As she gave glasses to Jerrie and Teazer, Valerie started thinking about Daniel. And this time she didn't try to stop herself. She recalled his cologne, his perfect smile, his strong arms, and the look of shock mixed with triumph when she'd caught him with Mary Sue...

And then, barely even realizing it, Valerie said, "Because you're hoping that you're wrong," She saw at of the corner of her eye that they had all turned to look at her in surprise, but still she continued. "And every time she does something that tells you she's no good, you ignore it, and every time she manages to pull through, she wins you over. So, you end up losing that arguement with yourself that she's not for you." Finally turning her head toward the others, she saw they were all staring at her with their eyes wide. "What?" Valerie asked, quickly taking a sip of her tea.

"Exactly," Misto said.

"Exactly what?" Jerrie asked looking at Misto with confusion.

"That's how it's always been with Victoria and me," Misto replied.

"Wow," Tugger said, casting a surprised look at Valerie. "That was pretty good, Val."

"You really think so?" Valerie asked, feeling herself smile as she took another sip of her tea. Tugger said nothing. He just smiled.

"And you wanna know something else, Valerie?" Misto asked. "A couple of days ago, she told me she was going to be little, because she 'had to help her mother with something'. So while I'm just waiting around, like an idiot, she's off sticking her tounge down Plato's throat. I bet that made them both scream with laughter."

"It's amazin'" Teazer said softly.

Misto turned his head, and sounding a bit shocked, asked," How is this amazing?"

"That Victoria could do somethin' like this and not get herself caught sooner," Teazer said. Valerie didn't have to ask to know that Teazer obviously _did not _give much advice to toms on cheating queens.

"Hey," Valerie said, trying to sound a little happier than she felt, "why don't we make some pity-party mousecakes?"

"No thanks." Misto sighed and slowly pulled his paw down his face and said, "Look, I don't wanna ruin anyone's night. Especially not your's Valerie. Getting accepted is a huge thing for you. You should be excited, not listening to me moan about my relationship problems."

"How'd you find out about me getting accepted?" Valerie asked. She heard Tugger clear his throat. Turning her head to look at him, he flashed her a grin.

"Three guesses," Jerrie mumbled to himself.

Looking into her mug, Valerie, once again without really thinking about it, said, "Look Misto, I know it really doesn't help much when people say 'I know how you feel'. But in this case, I really hope it _does _help you, because I do." Taking a deep breath, Valerie began to tell the story that had, for months, plauged her with sleepless nights and a gnawing pain that never quite went all the way away. "A while ago, I was seeing this tom. Bast, I thought I was so in love with him. He was everything a queen could ever want; smart, sweet, drop dead gorgeous..." She had to laugh at that. "But..."

"But..." Tugger encouraged her to continue.

"But, after we'd been seeing each other for about a year, I found out that...that he had been...seeing someone. Another queen. And the only way I found out was by...walking in on them."

Valerie felt herself choke a little. She never realized how horrible all of it had made her feel. "Look, Misto, I'm just saying, that...I know what it's like to feel as small as possible and I know that it can make you ache in places you didn't even know you had. And it doesn't matter how many times you tell your friends or yourself that you're fine; you still go to bed every night trying to figure out what you did wrong, or how you could have misunderstood, or how in _the hell _you could have been that happy. Some times, you even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your doorstep." Then, without warning, a small, warm tear made its way down Valerie's face. She reached up to wipe it away and, sniffling a little, continued. "But, after all that, however long 'all that' may be, you'll go somewhere new, and you'll see new faces, and a few of them will make you feel worthwhile again. So, all of that fuzzy stuff, all the weeks, days, or years you wasted...that will eventually begin to fade." Sighing, Valerie now allowed her tears to come freely, soaking her fur.

For a few seconds, only an strong silence filled the air. Then, Misto said abruptly, "Well, damn." Valerie jerked her head to face the tuxedo cat, whom she had never heard swear before (from the looks on the other cats' faces, they hadn't either). He handed her Tugger's half-full water glass. "You definetly need this more than I do."

Taking the glass and setting down her mug, Valerie drained the glass of its contents. Surprisingly, it helped keep the tears behind her eyes. She had just set the glass aside when Tugger abruptly cleared his throat, hopped off the arm of the couch, and said, "Well, now we're going to have to do what all things do when they're going through something as painful as this."

"Which would be..." Jerrie asked, arching his eyebrow.

"We're going to eat," Tugger exclaimed. "We're gonna make ourselves some mousecakes, pop ourselves some of Jenny and Skimble's cream, and celebrate being young and being _alive_!" He put extra emphasis on "alive" as if the word itself were a thing of God to be preached. "Agreed?" 

Getting to her feet, Valerie said, "Agreed."

"Twins?" The twins gave no response, but just hopped to their feet, excited to be doing something besides sitting.

"Well, Casanova?" Tugger finally asked Misto.

"What do you think?" Misto replied with a laugh, getting to his feet and smiling.

"Great!" Tugger proclaimed.

The five walked into the kitchen and began getting out bowls, spoons, and various other suppiles in order to make their mousecakes. As she reached into a cabinet to get some sugar, Valerie felt herself smile.

_You have to admit, _she thought, _out of all the tribes I could have found and all the cats I could have met, I found these guys. This has to have been out of the greatest accidents of my life._

"Hey, Misto," Teazer said. "Let's make a few look like Victoria and Plato, and we can bite their heads off!"

"That's sounds like a good idea to me," Misto said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Valerie said, finally spotting the sugar (in the back of the cabinet no less) and pulling it out. Turning to the twins, she said, "Just don't start a flour war this time, okay?"

The twins smiled innocently at her, saying in unison, "Okay."

But Tugger, on the other hand, turned, presenting a bag of flour. Smiling wickedly, he said, "I, however, make no such promises."

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It was late, Valerie knew it. She had absolutely no idea what exact time it was, but she knew it was late.

She was curled up on the couch, having just awakened from sleeping on the couch. After making (and eating) about three dozen mousecakes and guzzling down more than half of a bottle of Jenny and Skimble's cream, she and the others had made themselves comfortable anywhere in the living area and started talking about anything that came to mind. Teazer had fallen asleep first, in her father's recliner. Misto, who was lying parallel to Tugger on the floor, had dozed off next. Valerie had been overcome by sleep, laying on the couch with Jerrie. Now that Valerie was awake, she saw that the two toms were now asleep, Tugger on the floor, Jerrie on the couch across from her.

Valerie found herself focusing on Jerrie's sleeping form. She watched his chest rise and fall rhythmically. She studied his face, which was usually so full of life and boyish happiness, now calm and tranquil. She recalled earlier that day, when she'd been freaking out in the back of her mind, because she thought Jerrie was getting to close to her. She'd been so scared to let him come near. Now, he was just as close, maybe even closer, and she no longer felt that need to move, to get away, afraid of him as if he were some kind of monster. She realized that she didn't actually _want _to move, because, at this point in time, she was feeling just how _good_ it felt to be near him.

She brushed her ankle against his, being carefully not to wake him. His fur was exceptionally warm and it felt amazing. A little tingle went up her spine as she drew her foot back to her. Unfortunely, she slipped, and her foot nudged Jerrie's. And it wasn't a soft nudge. it was more like a nudge one used to wake someone else up from their deep slumber. Jerking his head up, Jerrie awoke.

Thinking quickly, Valerie said, "Sorry Jerrie, my foot slipped,"

"That's okay, Valerie," Jerrie said, his words nearly swallowed up by a yawn. Shaking his head, as if to clear it, Jerrie looked back at Valerie with his deep brown eyes. Valerie looked right back, no longer afraid of his gaze. Cocking his head a little, he smiled at her. His beautiful smile. And Valerie smiled right back. Jerrie suddenly moved his gaze to the floor and said "Valerie."

"Yeah, Jerrie."

"I just wanted you to know...that tom you were seein', ya know that one back in your old tribe, he...he was a real idiot."

"Yeah, I know,"

"I mean, I don't see how he could do something like that to someone like you. I mean..." He stopped suddenly and began to chew on his lower lip.

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked.

"I think you're perfect."

Valerie felt her eyes widen. "You do?"

"Yeah. You're smart, talented, and beautiful beyond belief..."

"I am not..." Valerie began to say.

"I love you."

Valerie turned to the orange calico in surprise. "What?"

"I love you," Jerrie repeated. "I'm sorry for bein' so blunt, but it's the truth." He sat up and scooted closer to her, so close she could hear him breathing. Valerie's heart fluttered.

And then, she realized something. Her heart was fluttering for a reason. And that reason was...

"I love you too, Jerrie." Jerrie's head jerked up, and his gaze was equal with hers. She leaned forward, placing her forehead against his and looking directly into his beautiful eyes. "I really do." She had expected him to grin, hug, or maybe even kiss her, but he didn't. Instead, he sighed, leaned back, and put his head in his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Now I have a problem." he replied.

"What is it?" Valerie could feel her heart rising into her throat.

"Well," Jerrie said, turning to face her again. "I have a very strong urge to kiss you, very passionatly, right now. But I know that when I do, I'll want to kiss you again and again, and by that time, I'll never be able..."

Valerie didn't give him time to finish. She had already pressed her lips tenderly against his. She felt him relax, put his paw gently around her, and kiss right back. It was magic.

When their lips finally did unlock, Jerrie finished his sentence. "...to stop."

Smiling and purring, Valerie nuzzled against Jerrie's arm and replied, "I could live with that."

Jerrie started to laugh, but it was cut off by another large yawn.

"I think," Valerie said, "that maybe, we should both go back to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day, and I'm going to be needing lots of encouraging words from you." Jerrie rubbed his nose against her before he spread back out on the couch. Valerie layed down in front of him, and he laced his arm around her, then closed his eyes. Valerie was about to do the same, but noticed Tugger staring at her, wide awake. His face was once again etched with his triumphant grin. But this time, Valerie didn't feel embarassed or frightened by that grin. Instead, she just grinned back, layed down her head, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.

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**Son of A/N:** Ah, l'amour! It is a many grand and wonderous thing.

Anyway, another chapter for the masses to enjoy. I know I said it once already in the last chapter, but I'm saying in again, so live with it! Happy Holidays to all (and a Happy New Year!)! Holiday mousecake anyone?

Cheers,

The Lavender Cat


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: **-enters, looks around- Oh yeah, I remember this place. Well, after several crazy holiday antics that involved annoying relatives, late hour spent doing nothing productive, and multiple bottles of headache medicine, I am back and ready to supply you guys with fanfic-ish stuff. So, here we go...-grabs jetpack and zooms away-

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Valerie opened her eyes a slit. Sunlight was attempting to stream in through the windows, but the thick cotton curtains blocked its way. She was unsure of the time. Perhaps it was early morning.

_Who cares? _her brain moaned in protest. _Go back to sleep._

But Valerie shut out her thoughts, opened her eyes the rest of the way, and tried to sit up. Nothing happened. Again, she attempted to sit up and gather herself. Still she didn't budge. Then she saw a large orange, black, and white paw out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Behind her, pressed against the back of the couch, was Mungojerrie, sound asleep. Unable to turn over and do something extremely romantic like in a movie, Valerie took his large paw in her small one, and caressed it for a while. It was a little dirty and slightly rough to the touch, not at all like Daniel's hand was, but Jerrie's hand was much warmer. She liked that a lot.

Gently letting Jerrie's hand fall in front of her, Valerie looked at the other three sleeping cats in the room with her. Teazer was still in Skimble's recliner, her little orange and black tail twitching a little as she quietly snored. Tugger and Misto were sound asleep on the floor, Misto curled into a loose half-circle, while Tugger was more sprawled out, his limbs going in every direction. Smiling again, Valerie closed her eyes again and put her head back into the space below Jerrie's chin.

No sooner had her head made contact with the fabric, the door to the boot opened, smacking the inner wall with a thud. Valerie's eyes shot back open at the sound. Directing her gaze to the door, she saw Skimble enter, in his waistcoat with the pocketwatch chain dangling from it. He was standing slightly sideways, so he didn't see Valerie staring at him at first. Then, he turned towards the front room. Valerie could tell he was surprised.

Skimble did a quick scan of the room, starting at his daughter sleeping in his recliner, moving downward to Tugger and Misto, dead to the world on the floor, and then up to the couch, where the sleeping Jerrie still had his arm laced over Valerie's waist. The two cats eyes met, and Valerie could see Skimble's look of surprise change to something of a combination of knowing and glee. Stepping lightly, making sure he didn't catch Tugger or Misto under his foot, Skimble made his way through the front room and over to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard above the sink and reached inside, but stopped short when he came up with nothing. He looked over at Valerie with a confused look. Valerie laughed a little. She knew what he wanted. Pointing to the tea kettle on Skimble's right, Valerie said, "It's over there."

"Ah," Skimble said, grabbing the tea kettle and filling it with water from the sink. "Can I interest you?"

"Well..." Valerie began, casting her gaze up at Jerrie, who's arm kept her pinned to the couch. "I don't want to wake him up."

"He'll be fine," Skimble replied. "Just sit up. It won't bother him. That boy could sleep through an earthquake."

Valerie sat up as Skimble had instructed. Jerrie's arm slid off her waist and into an awkward position on his side, but he didn't stir at all. She stood up, the joints in her back popping angrily at her for making them move, stepped over Misto, and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. Skimble was busy putting two teabags in two mugs, humming to himself. Valerie couldn't tell what the tune was, but it sounded oddly familiar.

"So," Skimble said, turning to face her, leaning against the cabinets with his arms across his chest, smiling wide. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Loads," Valerie answered. She thought about the night before, happily remembering the slightly-burned mousecake heads she'd devoured and the passionate kisses she'd received.

"I'm glad to know you and Jerrie felt the same way," Skimble said abruptly, as if reading her mind.

Valerie's head perked up. "How did you know about that?"

Skimble shrugged, "He told me. A few nights ago. I actually had a little bit of an idea before he told me."

"How?" Valerie asked.

"The little things," Skimble said. The tea kettle on the stove began to whistle. Grabbing the wooden handle, Skimble poured the steaming water into the mugs, gave one to Valerie, and sat in the chair opposite her as he said, "I would offer you cream, but I noticed that half of it was gone when I looked in the cupboard."

Valerie blushed. "Sorry about that."

Skimble waved the apology off. "It's nothing. That's probably the easiest and cheapest stuff to get. It'll be no problem to find another bottle of it."

Silence settled in. Valerie blew the steam off her tea and played with the teabag a little. She hated this silence. It was very uncomfortable.

_Only one way to remedy that, _her brain pointed out.

Valerie asked, "What did you mean 'the little things'?"

Skimble smiled and replied, "Just the way he would act around you. That first day at breakfast, the way he looked at you when you were talking. It was almost like he was entranced by you, that everything about you amazed him. And then two nights ago, before I went to bed, he came into my room and told me that he was almost crazy about you and he that he had no idea what to do and, oh Bast, what should he do?"

Valerie laughed a little. She could kind of picture the scene: a panicky Jerrie sitting at the foot of his father's bed while he spilled his guts about a queen he liked and the fact that he had no idea how to get her to notice him. The whole thing seemed really silly, and yet, very possible. Then Valerie asked, "So what did you tell him?"

"Well, I told him that he was being ridiculous to start. That he was making a big fuss out of something that was extremely simple. I told him all he had to do was be honest with you. To just tell you how he felt."

"It worked," Valerie said before taking a sip of her tea. She was glad to know Skimble had had a hand in this. It made her feel very good. Back in the front room, she heard a male voice groan and sigh, like the body it came from was stretching.

"Well, it's good to see you joining the land of the living, Tugger," Skimble said. Valerie turned in her chair just quickly enough to see Tugger's head snap towards them and his eyes grow very wide.

He scrambled to get to his feet, all the while stammering," Oh, Bast, Skimble, about your cream...I ...uh...I'll find you another bottle of it, alright...even bigger than the one you had..."

Tugger's stuttered apology and promise seemed just loud enough to stir the other three cats from their sleep. Skimble raised his paw to get Tugger to stop trying to apologize and said, "Tugger, it's quite alright." Turning his attention to the other three cats stretching and yawning, he said, "Well, I see you all had a party here last night."

"Yeah," said Misto rotating his head to pop his neck. "A pity party."

"Why's that?" Skimble asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"We found out yesterday that Victoria is a cheatin' wench," Teazer said, walking into the kitchen and plopping into a seat next to her father.

"Excuse me?" Skimble asked raising an eyebrow. He obviously had no idea what Teazer meant.

"She'd been seeing Plato for either as long as or longer than she'd been seeing me," Misto said, standing with Tugger next to the cabinets.

"So we kinda helped Misto drown his sorrows in mousecakes and cream," Jerrie said, sitting next to Valerie.

Skimble gave Misto an apologetic look and said, "Sorry about that lad. Are you alright?"

Misto sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess I am. But I still feel incredibly stupid."

"Ah, don't worry,boy, that'll pass in time," Skimble said, giving Misto a reassuring wink. Then he looked around the room and asked, "Where's Jem?"

"With Pouncival and Ectetera," Valerie answered as Jerrie put his arm around her shoulder. "I hope it's okay if we let her spend the night there."

Skimble smiled and nodded. He turned his gaze to Jerrie, with a looked that said "Didn't I tell you?" Valerie could see out of the corner of her eye that Jerrie was blushing slightly.

Suddenly Tugger spoke up, asking, "Hey, Skimble, what time do you have?"

Reaching into the pocket of his waistcoat, Skimble pulled forth his gold pocket watch and pressed a small button on the front. It's lid opened with a cheerful pop and Skimble read off, "Eleven-twenty-one."

"Oh, man, I better get outta here," Tugger said, pushing himself away from the cabinets and heading for the door. Before reaching, however, he stopped and looked directly at Valerie. "You do remember that you're getting accepted in a little more than half an hour, right?"

The question hit Valerie like a brick flung to the face. Her acceptance! She'd forgotten completely! "Oh, Bast, Tugger, you're right! Do I need to get ready or something?"

"You may want to take a brush to your headfur," Tugger said. "It doesn't look too good."

"Thanks," Valerie replied, deadpan.

"Jerrie," Skimble said, pushing his tea mug aside and taking on a very official tone. "You take Misto and go bring your sister and anyone who wants to be there back here with you."

Jerrie did a mock salute before motioning Misto to follow him out the door, Tugger trailing behind them. As soon as it was shut, Teazer grabbed Valerie's paw and dragged her down the hall.

"Come on, Valerie," Teazer said, stopping at the door on the right and flinging it open. "I want to help you get ready."

Valerie had never been inside the twins' room before, and, now that she was, it was very different from what she'd been expecting. It was, for one thing, much cleaner than she had anticipated. Nothing was popping out of any secret compartments in the walls. The beds were even made. Well, one, the one with a red bedspread, was. The other, an orange blanket covering it, was slightly mussed. Valerie figured that was Jerrie's bed.

Teazer pulled Valerie over to a small vanity that sat in the corner of the room. Valerie sat down at looked at her furry reflection. Tugger had been right about her headfur. It was horribly messy, like she'd just rolled out of bed. Well, she had, but she didn't want that Old Deutoronomy fellow knowing that. Luckily, Teazer grabbed a brush from the vanity and began to graze it through Valerie's headfur. She did it softly, making sure not to pull any tangles she came across. Looking at Teazer's reflection in the mirror, Valerie noticed Teazer looking at her with a wistful expression on her face.

"What's up Teaze?" Valerie asked.

"I saw you and Jerrie on the couch last night," Teazer answered, a small smile creeping over her lips.

"You knew about him liking me too, didn't you," Valerie asked.

"Yeah, I did."

"Was I the only one who didn't know?"

"Who else knew besides me?"

"Your dad, Tugger..."

"Well, Tugger dosen't surprise me. He's pretty good at noticin' crushes. But dad. Now that's a surprise. Jeez, Valerie, your headfur is full of tangles."

"Really?" Valerie ran a paw through her hair. She yelped quitely when she found a tangle by accidentally pulling it too hard. "I didn't notice any of them until just then. You're really good with a brush, you know."

"Dem taught me. Back before she was mated to Munkustrap. We used to do a bunch of stuff together, her, Jem, and me."

"Do you not do that anymore?"

"We do, just not as much as we used to."

"At least you still have Jemima. You can teach her to do stuff like this."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You're lucky, you know. I never had any siblings. Just a lot of cousins."

"I know about the tons of cousins thing," Teazer said, putting the brush back on the vanity. "And there we have it."

Valerie admired her reflection. Her headfur looked great, as if she'd just been to a professional. She started playing with it, flipping it and tossing it over her shoulders, and said, trying to sound like one of those Russian models she'd seen on TV as a kid, "I look simply mahvalous, dahling!"

The two queens laughed at the attempted mimickery. But the mirth was cut short by a knock on the doorframe of the bedroom. Both queens turned their heads to see Jenny standing at the door with a large smile on her face. "Sounds like you two are having fun in here."

"Hey, Jenny!" Valerie said.

Jenny's eyes widened when they matched Valerie's, and she feigned surprise. "My word," she said. "Valerie, dear, you look magnificent!"

"I have Teazer to thank for that," Valerie said, casting a glance at the now-blushing calico.

"Who'd you get to stay with Dem for you?" Teazer asked, her blush subsiding.

"I called in a favor from Jelly," Jenny said, "Well, everyone is waiting in the hall, so we need to hop to it."

Following Jenny down the hall into the front room, Valerie was taken aback by the small entourage of cats that now filled Jenny and Skimble's front room. All the kittens (minus Victoria, but after yesterday, Valerie wasn't all that surprised), Jerrie, Misto, and Skimble all stood in the living space with large grins on their faces.

"Ready, Valerie?" Misto asked.

"As I'll ever be," Valerie replied as Skimble opened the door to the boot and everyone filed out.

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The party reached an opening in the junk piles where Tugger and Alonzo stood. Valerie could see Tugger grinning madly as they came closer. When the group stopped, they parted to let Valerie walk to the front.

"Are you ready, Valerie," Alonzo asked.

Valerie suddenly felt her throat go dry, leaving her unable to answer Alonzo's question, so she just nodded.

"Alright," Tugger said, rubbing his hands together, "let's get this show on the road."

"Wait a second," a voice Valerie recognized as Jerrie's piped up. She turned her head to look at him. He stood rather rigidly, shifting slightly, with his paws behind his back, as he said, "I have somethin' I need to give Valerie before she goes in." Jerrie stepped up to Valerie and pulled his paws from behind his back. Valerie gasped. He held in his paws a soft purple leather collar, with small rhinestones pasted to it in a neat line. In the front, their was a silver tag dangling down. Valerie smiled at the gift and looked at Jerrie. She could feel her eyes tear up as he said, "I was knew I'd find somethin' useful in my humans house." Valerie unhooked the clasp on the collar and placed in around her neck. It was lightweight and cool against her fur. She looked up at Jerrie's face again, his grin glowing. "You look beautiful," he said.

Valerie didn't answer. Instead, she stood on tiptoe (as Jerrie was nearly a foot taller than she was), flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him. A chorus of "aw's" resounded from their audience.

Releasing Jerrie's lips, Valerie turned on her heels to face Tugger and Alonzo, who's smiles must have grown a foot.

"Alright," she said. "Let's do this."

She gulped as Tugger and Alonzo lead her past the two junk piles to be accpeted.

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**Son of A/N: **-zooms back in on jetpack;coughs on exhaust fumes- Well, aren't I just a cruel little person? Leaving you hanging at such a crucial...wait-listens-! Oh my word, it's the pitter patter of another chapter! It's twins -bawls for joy-.

So, yeah, it's two chapters, for the wait of one (even though the wait for one is usually extremely long). Have fun-ditches jetpack and rides away in go-cart-!

Cheers,

The Lavender Cat


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: **-enters with steering wheel jammed over head, hanging from neck- Remind me in the future to NEVER drive a go-cart ever again. Well, maybe if I hadn't been trying to type this _while _trying to turn, I wouldn't have crashed...oh, anyway, I promised twin chapters and here is the second one! Enjoy my lovelies!This first part is going to be very uneventful, I warn you, but it'll get better I promise! Oh, yeah, and I finally obtained a program with SpellCheck, so no more poor spelling for me!

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Valerie could feel her heart beat quickening. She knew she was probably just excited or nervous or both, but there was a small part of her that felt as if she was being led to her own execution. The fear that the Jellicle leader would find _something _wrong with her had been eating at the back of her brain since she'd figured out the whole meaning of the whole ceremony, but she had managed to ignore it. Now, however, there was no stopping it as it bared down on her mind. The whole idea made her hands shake, her stomach churn, and her tail twitch back and forth. She tried to focus on other things, but nothing else seemed to come to mind. It was as if at this very moment in time was when her life had begun and nothing had happened before hand.

Suddenly Valerie felt as if someone was looking at her. She lifted her head, expecting to see Tugger looking back over his shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. But she was instead greeted by the sweet smile of Alonzo. It wasn't the polite, courteous smile he had sported when she'd first met him. It was more of a grin one gave an actual friend. Even though Valerie hardly considered Alonzo her friend, having barely spoken a full sentence to him, she smiled back, taking comfort in his kindness.

Valerie had become so preoccupied with this new thought, that she didn't notice that Tugger and Alonzo had come to a complete stop in front of her. At least she didn't until she bumped into Tugger's back, nearly sending herself to the ground. But she thankfully caught herself in mid-fall, regaining her balance.

Hearing soft, deep chuckling coming from nearby, Valerie cast her gaze forward. She recognized the spot she was currently in; the large open space in front of the tire where she'd kit-sat for the first time. Now, four dignified adult toms sat before her. On the right sat Munkustrap, looking exceptionally calm and collected, and Alonzo, sitting cross-legged, his tail twitching back and forth. To the left sat Tugger, leaning back somewhat, acting as if the whole affair bored him to tears. That annoyed Valerie a little.

_He is such a dope, _she thought. _At least look like you're interested in me, Tugger._

But Valerie's thoughts were silenced when her eyes settled upon the cat in the center. One look told her that he must be Old Deuteronomy.

She had to admit, he was nothing like she'd expected. But then she really wasn't sure what she had been excepting.

The first thing that Valerie noticed about this cat was how big he was. He looked like one of those white Persian cats with perfectly styled fur she'd seen on all those cat food commercials. The only difference was this cat wasn't white and his fur was far from being perfectly styled. His fur was a light gray, like the color of rain clouds, with stripes of fading brown and black in it, and incredibly shaggy.

The next thing Valerie noticed was how old the cat before her was. Then again, he did have the term "old" before his name. And this cat certainly fit the part. Looking at his face, she saw wrinkles covered it. But she also noticed the soft, calm, patient smile the old cat wore. Also, his warm, happy gaze. He looked like he should have been someone's grandfather, not the leader of anything. However, Valerie felt calmer when she saw that elderly smile. It just somehow made her feel at ease.

"You must be Valerie," Old Deuteronomy said, never lifting his gaze from Valerie's thin frame.

"Yes, sir," was all Valerie could manage to say. As comfortable as that smile and gaze made her feel, she could not say anything else.

"So, Valerie, you wish to join the Jellicle tribe?"

"Yes, sir."

"Munkustrap has been keeping me informed about your activity over the last few days," Deutoronomy said. "I understand you've kit-sat a few times already."

"Yes, sir, I have twice now."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"Well...yes, sir, I do. The kittens are darling and we have so much fun together."

"I see. I also have been informed that you've been taking up residence with Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks."

Valerie was so used to saying "Jenny" and "Skimble" that she'd nearly forgotten that those weren't their full names and almost was about to ask Deuteronomy who on earth he was talking about. But she luckily stopped herself and replied hypnotically, "Yes sir."

"Are you happy with them? Do they treat you well?"

"Oh, yes sir, very well," Valerie replied.

The large cat seemed pleased with Valerie's constant robotic replies, but his eyes gave the idea he wasn't particularly satisfied with them. Still with his grandfatherly grin, he said, "No Valerie, what was your life like before you came here?"

Valerie felt her heart rise into her throat a bit. She hadn't been anticipating this. What was she supposed to say? Begin speaking of talking white lights and screaming in an alley upon discovering your body was covered in thick black and gray fur that _had not _been there when you'd woken up that morning? So, Valerie did the only thing she could think to do at a moment like this: stall for time. She asked, "What exactly do you mean, sir?"

Still smiling, Deuteronomy answered, "I mean, what was the name of your tribe before you found yourself here?"

"Oh," Valerie said. She felt the significant lump of her heart rise even further. Should she tell Deuteronomy what she had told Skimble, or what she had told everyone else? It was easy to fool kittens, as they were probably so young they didn't honestly know if there was a Greywool tribe or not. But an older cat was much wiser and probably knew every tribe there was to know, and the ones that were non-existent. But what else could she say, other than the truth, which was so confusing and strange it didn't even sound like the truth? So, taking a deep breath, Valerie said, "I'm from a tribe called the Greywool tribe, sir."

"I see," the old cat said, the expression in his eyes unchanged. "What were the names of your parents?"

Another snag. From the names she'd heard over the past few days, her parents names were nowhere near odd enough to qualify as cat names. But she had nothing else she could give him, so she said, "My parents were Jasper and Freda."

She half expected him to start laughing at her or start accusing her of lying about her origins, but instead, the cat's face contorted into that of deep thought, his forehead slightly wrinkled and his lips pursed together. The three cats sitting at his sides were staring up at him with confusion, probably wondering what was going through their leader's mind at the moment. If they were, they were wondering exactly what Valerie was.

Soon, however, Deuteronomy's face relaxed with a look of knowing as he said, "Ah, yes, I recall now. Jasper and Freda. Two very lyrical names, Jasper meaning 'treasure bearer' I believe, and Freda meaning 'peace'. Yes, perfectly lovely names."

Valerie felt every muscle in her body relax. She couldn't believe he had bought that! Of course those really were her parents real names, but she had never dreamed that would actually work. She was so deliriously happy that her lie had worked, that she barely heard Deuteronomy's next question.

"So, Valerie, why exactly did you leave your tribe."

_Well, he brain said to her. If he bought one lie, another certainly can't hurt anything._

She cleared her throat and said, "Well, I really didn't have a voice in the matter, sir. You see, a dog attacked our tribe on that day Munkustrap, Tugger, and Alonzo found me in that alleyway. I think I'm the only survivor."

At that point in time, Valerie could have quite possibly kick herself. Even she had to admit how horribly cheesy that sounded. But amazingly, the older cat nodded, as if he understood completely, sympathy laced in his words as he said, "I did receive word of such attacks. Seems a rabid pollicle has been on the loose, attacking tribes at random. I am deeply sorry for your lose, Valerie."

"Thank you, sir," Valerie said politely. As, cool as she may have seemed in the exterior, she was completely confounded by this whole thing. Surely Old Deuteronomy knew she was making this all up. And if so, why was he acting as if every word she said was pure fact?

But her whirl winded thoughts were stopped suddenly when Old Deuteronomy rose to his feet. His balance seemed somewhat shaky, and he tottered a bit. Luckily Munkustrap was there, taking a gentle grip around his arm, keeping him steady. Upon rising, Valerie noticed that he was a little bigger and far shaggier than a sitting position would allow one to perceive. Walking slowly but surely to the edge of the tire, where Valerie noticed something resembling a ramp was, the cat made his way down to the dusty ground, Munkustrap keeping close behind in case Deuteronomy should need assistance. Alonzo slid from his perch gracefully, while Tugger sort of hopped off, landing squarely on his feet. The two followed Deuteronomy and Munkustrap to the break in the junkpiles. At first Valerie just stood where she was, totally awe-struck. It was over? That was it?

Tugger looked over his shoulder and jerked his head toward the cats in front of him, motioning for Valerie to follow him. Only then did Valerie jerk herself back to reality and follow them briskly.

They reached the open space where the assembly of cats, who were chattering and laughing, stood. As soon as Deuteronomy came into view, all noise ceased and all faces directed to the old ball of fur that now stood before them. A few cats smiled admiringly at him, while others cast their gazes to him, then to Valerie, who stood to his right, and back to Deuteronomy.

Finally, the old cat spoke. "It is very clear to me, that we have nothing to fear from this young queen. She has committed no crimes and has no great sins bearing on her shoulders. Other than that, she is an orphan, and it would be simple depravity to throw her out into the streets alone. So, with great pleasure, I welcome to our tribe with open arms, Valerie."

Valerie never expected such small group of cats could make such a happy racket. Or deliver so many hugs. Skimble and Jenny immediately ran to her and nearly crushed her in a large familial hug. As soon as they had released her, Teazer and Misto had latched themselves to her sides. Jerrie came and wrapped his arms around her lovingly and sneaked a kiss right behind her ear (out of the corner of her eye, Valerie could see Skimble happily point this out to Jenny, who smiled wide at the sight). The biggest hug, however, came from the kittens, who basically all pounced at once onto Valerie and wrapped their arms around her, squealing with delight.

"Oh, Valerie, this is such a special day for you," Jenny cried. Valerie could swear she saw Jenny's eyes tearing up. "We simply must celebrate! I know, I'll cook you the best dinner you've ever had! It will be glorious!"

"Thanks, Jenny," Valerie said gratefully. Nobody had ever cooked her a celebration dinner before. She felt really touched that Jenny cared so much.

"I'll help you, Jenny," Skimble said, placing his arm around Jenny's shoulder.

"Don't you have to go catch the train, dear," Jenny asked sounding a trifle confused.

"The train doesn't run on Sundays, dear," Skimble replied, rubbing noses with Jenny.

"I'll help you, too, Mum," Teazer offered. Jenny looked slightly surprised by this. Valerie could understand, considering she didn't actually consider Teazer to be very domestic.

"Oh, me too, Mama. I'll help!" Jemima piped.

"And me!" Electra squeaked.

"Hey, I have an idea," Valerie said. "Why don't we all help Jenny and Skimble. It'll be fun!"

Needless to say, Valerie was a bit surprised when the party whole-heartedly agreed to the idea of helping Jenny cook and prepare for a dinner. They all headed off in the direction of Jenny and Skimble's den. Valerie began to follow, but Jerrie gently grabbed hold of her arm and held her back. Turning back towards him, she saw his lips were once again plastered with his adorable grin. "Can I talk to you alone," he asked. Valerie could tell he was trying to sound as debonair and romantic as possible. As corny as he actually sounded, Valerie thought he was being incredibly cute, and followed him as he gently tugged her behind a pile of junk nearby.

Once alone behind the wall of junk, Jerrie pulled Valerie close to him. Valerie noticed he had a distinct scent on him and it was particularly pleasant; very warm and inviting. She nuzzled against his shoulder and smiled to herself. She could faintly hear his heart, which was pounding in his chest. He placed his paw against her headfur and slowly pulled it downward, stroking gently. Shivers made their way up Valerie's spine. Daniel had just lost his place as the best at making her feel like she was flying.

Nearly at a whisper, she pointed out, "You said you wanted to tell me something."

Jerrie's smile grew wider as he kissed the top of her head. Gently placing his paw under her chin, he pulled her head up to meet his, where she could see his perfect boyish grin and sparkling brown eyes. Without a word, he pressed his lips against hers, running his paws up and down her figure. Valerie felt her body surge with excitement as she laced her arms around his neck.

Suddenly, from above them, their came a small chorus of happy sighs. Jerrie and Valerie broke their kiss and gazed up, spot three familiar shapes in the afternoon sun.

"Told ya, didn't I," said Tugger's proud voice.

"Yeah, I just didn't think you were being serious," came the voice that belong to Munkustrap.

"They really do make a pretty good couple don't they," Alonzo wondered aloud.

Valerie and Jerrie gave each other an irritated glance. They had not been counting on (nor hoping for) an audience to their intimate exchange. Jerrie, however, voiced his annoyance at the intrusion first. "Ya know, we're not deaf. We can hear every word you're saying."

"And," Valerie added, "we would like to know if the three of you mind."

"No," was Alonzo's blunt answer.

From somewhere, a snide female voice giggled and said, "They're right you know. It's incredibly rude to watch people during moments of intimacy. But then, Valerie knows all about doing that. Don't you dear?" Valerie felt the excitement and heat from moments past fade as she turned to see Victoria, perched on a bed protruding from an adjacent pile of junk, sitting erect and perfect, like a princess. Her bright gray eyes snapped from Valerie to Jerrie as a smile, conceited grin spread across her face. "It's nice to see that you finally found _someone_ Mungojerrie. I was afraid you were going to have to start flirting with toms to get yourself a suitable mate." She cast another disdainful look at Valerie before continuing, "But then this isn't much better."

Valerie felt heat rising to her cheeks, but it was definitely not from embarrassment. She'd had basically enough of this self-centered, bratty queen. Victoria had caused Valerie and the cats she'd become friends with so much grief and Valerie had done nothing to cause it. Now the cat was going to get a taste of what she deserved.

"Well, Victoria," Valerie said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible, "how _are _thing between you and Plato? He must really something to make you cheat on a tom like Misto."

Victoria scoffed at this and said, "Misto obviously didn't know how to play the game. I did. So, I found someone who played the game as well as I did."

Valerie felt herself roll her eyes. She had expected Victoria's answer to be stupid, but not that stupid. "You think that love is a game? You know, Victoria, I don't think you understand how utterly horrible what you did to Misto really was. Did you ever stop to think you might have been hurting him when you acted so stupid? I've realized that if you find a potential mate in life, you should be faithful. Or in your current case, grateful."

That got Victoria angry. She narrowed her eyes into slits and her ears pressed themselves down on her head as she said, "What do you know anyway?"

Now, it was Valerie's turn to be angry as she snapped back, "I know what it feels like to be cheated on!" She watched as Victoria's eyes widened at the sudden burst, but still she continued. "I also would never wish it on anybody, not even, crazy as it sounds, on you. Unfortunately, Victoria, you don't share my viewpoint. You never seem to care who you step on or hurt just so you can be happy. That isn't how it works. And if you aren't mature enough to know that by now, maybe you should rethink your life plans."

Valerie suddenly felt out of breath. But at the same time, she felt incredibly good. However, as she turned back to face Victoria, she could see that the kitten was not happy with the forced realization. Her white, fluffy tail twitch in annoyance and Valerie heard a soft growl resound from her throat. And of course, there was the infamous stare of death that had sent shivers up Valerie's spine when she first saw it. But now, Valerie saw it as a childish pout. Everything about Victoria had become loads less threatening.

Victoria, though, seemed to think she still had some sway over Valerie and said, "You'll regret saying that to me. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure you never get accepted into this tribe!" And with that, the white kitten stood, hopped to the ground from her mattress perch, and sauntered away.

Valerie stood where she was, frozen with surprise. But not by the fact that Victoria had threatened her, but with what Victoria had threatened her with. The kitten had no idea that Valerie had already been accepted.

Turning to Jerrie, who seemed to be reading her thoughts, she began, "Did you not..."

Jerrie shrugged and said, "I didn't tell her. And none of the kittens knew, so Jemima didn't either."

"None of us told her either," Munkustrap said from behind them. Valerie was a bit surprised to see they were still there. They'd been so quiet, she'd forgotten about them.

"So," Valerie wondered aloud, "that means, she..."

The realization came over them slowly. And when it did, Tugger was the first to start laughing. Following him were Valerie, Jerrie, Alonzo, and finally Munkustrap. They laughed like they had just lost their minds, loudly and heartily. All four ended up on the ground gasping for air when they could laugh no more.

Getting back on her feet, Valerie turned to Tugger, Munkustrap, and Alonzo and asked, "You guys want to help with a celebration dinner?"

Nodding, the three toms got to their feet as Tugger said, "Do you think we should tell Victoria that you've already been accepted?"

Valerie looked back up at Victoria's perch and smiled as she said, "Nah, she's a big girl. She can find out on her own."

**Son of A/N: -looks at poor, worn fingers- Okay, I promised you all twin chapters and I delivered, but promise me one thing:**

**Never let me do that again!**

**Cheers,**

**The Lavender Cat**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: It's that time again. No, not to make the people at National Library Association cry; it's time for another chapter in my wondrous fanfic paradise of joy and chocolate-coatedness! Can you say sugar-high? Anywho, enjoy my creatures of the night, enjoy.** **Teehee...Dracula reference...**

No one could deny that the junkyard was abuzz with activity that evening. The sounds of clanking dishes, sizzling food, and loud chatter pierced the stillness of the twilight, but to Valerie, who was carrying half a dozen plates and trying to make her way from Jenny's kitchen to the open space outside the boot, where a long line of wood planks set up as table sat, the noise and movement increased her euphoric feeling.

After returning to the boot with Jerrie, Tugger, Munkustrap, and Alonzo, Valerie had realized that many more cats had joined the originally small cheering section Valerie found herself with. It turned out, that any cat the group came across on their way back to the boot had received an invitation to participate in Valerie's congratulatory dinner. By the time the party had reached the boot, almost every cat in the junkyard was either setting up tables, helping Jenny cook food, or carrying dishes, silverware, and glasses.

Finally reaching the part of the table she was helping set, Valerie clunked the plates against the dark wood and wiped the sweat off her brow. She took a look at the opposite end of the table and watched as Cassandra and Exotica filled vases with dandelions they'd found near the edge of the junkyard; once they filled a vase, they would hand it to either Etcetera, Electra, or Jemima, who would rush it to any part of the table where a vase was absent. Tantomile set glasses down on the table, as Coriopat followed her, setting silverware in place. Alonzo and Munkustrap were carrying anything they could find that could qualify as a chair, whether it be an old wooden crate or an empty paint can.

Then, Valerie's eyes settled on a most pleasant of sights; Jerrie, carrying a stack of plates as well, reached the table and began setting the plates in their spots. He worked with speed, the well-toned muscles in his arms flexing with his movement. He moved in such a blur, that Jemima, who was carrying another full vase, stopped and watched her brother in amazement. Valerie was just feeling a smile spread across her furry face when a voice from behind her said, "Enjoying the view, Valerie?"

Turning her head to look over her shoulder, Valerie saw Tugger with another stack of plates in his hands, with a wide smirk on his face. Turning herself the rest of the way around, she said proudly, "More than you realize Tugger."

"Good to know," Tugger replied, his smirk growing wider as he set the plates in some of the open spaces on the table. As he worked, Valerie once again let her gaze slip back to Jerrie, who was now talking to Cassandra, setting the last plates in his stack on the table. Noticing Valerie staring Jerrie smiled wide and winked at her. The grin and the wink nearly made Valerie's spine melt away, and she smiled and waved back. Cassandra noticed this and did a few double-takes between Valerie and Jerrie before a sly, knowing grin spread over her lips.

Valerie was so concentrated on Jerrie, that she barely noticed Tugger poking her in her shoulder blade. She did notice, however, a violent push to her back that sent her sprawling forward, catching herself awkwardly before she hit the dirt. She shot a nasty look back at Tugger, who was trying to look as innocent as possible. Noticing her deathly gaze, Tugger shrug and said, "You weren't listening. I had to get your attention somehow. Besides, I was knew that, if you kept staring at Jerrie for too long, you'd eventually fall over anyway." Valerie did not reply, but instead stuck out her tongue. Tugger rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, very mature Valerie."

"Like you would know anything about being mature, Tugger," Valerie said sweetly, standing upright. "Now, may I ask why you invaded my fantasy?"

"Well, we need to get glasses and silverware to go with these plates," Tugger said. "Unless you'd rather have everyone eating with their paws."

The two walked back towards the boot and walked through the threshold, which stood wide open, as to not become overheated from the stove. Inside the boot was just as hectic as, if not more than, the outside. Jenny, Jellylorum, and Dora were not only trying to cook, but also give lessons to several younger cats. Plato and Tumblebrutus crowded around Dora, who was rolling out what looked to be a dough for a pie of some kind with a rolling pin, and copied her every move. Jellylorum had Admetus and Pouncival at her side and the three were all cutting up small vegetables and placing them in a large bowl. While Jelly did the task rather solemnly, Valerie noticed Admetus leaning back and making odd faces behind her back, as Pouncival watched, popping the occasional lettuce leaf into his mouth. And finally, Teazer and Misto were at the stove with Jenny, each stirring their own individual pot, every now and then adding something to it.

Valerie turned to get the silverware and glasses off of the table, only to be met by an icy stare from none other than Victoria. The white kitten sat rigid and unmoving at the table, her little green eyes burning into Valerie like fire. Earlier that evening, Jellylorum, upon learning of a celebration where her help would be appreciated, had retrieved Admetus, Tumblebrutus, and Victoria from her den and brought them to Jenny and Skimble's boot. Admetus and Tumblebrutus seemed more than happy to help, and at first Victoria did too. That is, until the young white queen had discovered what everyone was celebrating.

So, Victoria immediately began to sulk at the kitchen table, refusing to lift a finger, even to help Plato, and made sure that any time Valerie was in sight, she would flash her one of her piercing stares. But, after the events of the afternoon, Valerie no longer had a fear for that stare. Now, she just saw a immature, spoiled little kitten who was not used to not getting her way.

Valerie handed Tugger three glasses, which he balanced carefully in his arms. As she gathered up a bundle of silverware, Valerie noticed Victoria steal a wink at Tugger. The heat of anger boiled behind Valerie's cheeks, but she tried not to let it show as she walked back to the doorway, looking once over her shoulder to confirm Tugger had not been stupid and stayed behind to flirt with Victoria.

As the two headed back out of the boot, Valerie caught the front room out of the corner of her eye. The couch was presently taken up by Bombalurina and Demeter, who sat on near the left, and Asparagus and Skimble, who sat at the right. Valerie thought it was odd that Skimble wasn't sitting in his recliner, until she realized it was occupied by a cat she'd never seen before. The new cat vaguely resembled Jenny and Jelly, except for two things: he was a tom and he was incredibly old. He sat in the recliner, slouching slightly, talking with Skimble and Asparagus. His fur was very shaggy, he was obscenely thin, and his paws shook like those desperate leaves still attached to trees in late fall.

"Hey, Valerie, you coming or what?" Tugger called. Valerie only then noticed that Tugger had walked out of the boot without her.

Picking up her pace to catch up with him, she set her bundle of silverware down on the table. As Tugger finished setting his glasses, she asked, "Who was that older cat sitting in Skimble's recliner?"

"That was Grandpa Gus," Jemima's small voice chirped behind Valerie. Turning, Valerie saw that Jemima, Jerrie, Electra, and Etcetera were now standing behind her. 'Aunt Jelly brought him with her."

"He's mum and Aunt Jelly's dad,"Jerrie said planting himself on a wooden crate near Valerie's legs.

"How come I haven't noticed him till just now?" Valerie asked.

"He's a pretty quiet old guy," Electra said. "At least sometimes he is."

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked.

"When he starts talking, especially about how younger cats are so much worse than the older ones, there is really not a good chance of shutting him up," Tugger replied.

Valerie didn't get a chance to ask any more questions, as Admetus and Tumblebrutus suddenly appeared at the table, each carrying a bowl full of food. Admetus set a bowl of salad down on the table as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Grandpa Gus," Etcetera answered, stealing a tomato out of the bowl and sticking it in her mouth. "And how he thinks we're basically a bunch of troublemakers."

"Oh, come on, guys," Valerie said. "He can't be that bad. And besides, every generation thinks the any generation after their's is bad news."

Suddenly Tumblebrutus said, "He hates Admetus."

Valerie was a bit taken aback by this statement. She said to Tumblebrutus , "Oh, come on. He's Admetus' grandfather. He isn't allowed to hate him."

"He _doesn't_ hate me," Ademtus said, casting a sharp gaze at Tumblebrutus before turning his head to face Valerie. "He just doesn't like the fact I was sort of the reason my parents got mated in the first place."

"What?" Valerie was feeling very confused by this whole thing.

So, without hesitation, Admetus said, "Well, back before my parents were actually mated, my future grandparents were an _extremely _different pair of cats. My dad's parent's, Amos and Esther, were strictly practical and were not really big on things like theater and art. My mother's parents, Gus and Primitiva, were just what Amos and Esther didn't like; flighty theater cats. But, despite that, Grandma Esther and Tiva were the best of friends. So, Amos and Gus were kind of forced to put up with each other's presence, for the sake of their mates."

"I personally think that if Esther and Tiva weren't friends, they would have gladly ripped each other apart," Jerrie interjected.

Admetus smiled in agreement and continued: "Pretty soon, my parents started to form a relationship. And a pretty intimate one, too. They even wanted to get married. When they told Amos and Gus, they were furious. Gus didn't want his daughter mixed up with a stiff like the son of Amos, and Amos didn't want his son involved with a, as he so eloquently put it, "theater tramp's child."

"Wow," Valerie said. "I bet Gus didn't take that too well."

"Not at all," Ademtus said. "He and Amos forbade their respective child from seeing the other. Of course, that didn't stop Mom and Dad. They decided to elope. Naturally, Amos and Gus dragged their mates off to try and stop them. But my parents gave the two toms a choice: either except the fact their children were in love or they would never get to see their grandchild."

Valerie felt her eyes grow wide with surprise as she began to say, "You mean..."

Admetus nodded and said, "Yep. My mother was pregnant with me. So, my parents got mated and I was born soon after. And my dad and I have been getting grief about it from Gus ever since."

"Oh, Bast," Valerie muttered, before a thought dawned on her. "Wait, how do you know all of this?"

"My mom and Jenny have told all of us that story dozens of times," Admetus answered as the others, even Tugger, nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Jenny, Jelly, Dora, Teazer, Misto, Plato, Pouncival, and Victoria walked out into the open space, carrying plates and bowls, all loaded to the brims with food. An exception, however, was Victoria, who's arms were too tightly folded across her chest to carry anything. She sat firmly in a chair as far from Valerie and the others as possibly.

"The table looks wonderful," Jenny said to the small congregation of cats. "Who put all these beautiful flowers on the table."

Jemima pointed down the table and said, "Cassandra and Exotica found them."

Cassandra pulled off a very convincing act of modesty and said, "Well, Jemima, Electra, and Etcetera were a great help, as well."

Said kittens smiled at being mentioned as Jenny said, "Well, they are certainly lovely. I had no idea dandelions bloomed this late in the year."

Jenny, Jelly, and Dora sat their food in an available space and headed back into the boot, but not before Jelly scolded Ademtus and Tumblebrutus for sitting on the table instead of in a chair.

Valerie took a look at the food Teazer, Misto, Plato, and Pouncival placed on the tables. It looked particularly good and smelled wonderful to match. "That looks great, you guys," she said, smiling.

"You should have seen Teaze in there," Misto said. "I never knew she could cook like that."

"You learn things like this, living with Mum for so long," Teazer said, sounding a bit embarrassed at her secret gift.

Valerie suddenly saw Misto turn his head to his right and smile wide. She was just about to ask what he'd seen when he exclaimed, "Hey, it's Uncle Bustopher!"

The rest of the group, Valerie included, looked in the direction Misto looked. At first, Valerie thought she was staring at a large, fat ball of black and white fur. But she soon realized that the ball of fur had a face and a tail, with markings similar to Misto's. Then she noticed the ball of fur also had a carvet, a monocle, and was using a giant silver spoon for a cane. While she was a tad surprised by this strange new cats choice in accessories, the others seemed very excited to see him. The new cat walked up to the group with a strong, dignified stride. Casting his powerful gaze down to Misto, he said with a proper British, "Good evening, nephew."

Bowing his head with respect, Misto answered, "Good evening, uncle. How are you faring?"

"Well enough," came the flat response. At that moment, a small squeal of delight sounded from the doorway. Everyone, including the new cat, turned to see a very happy looking Dora carrying a plate in each paw walking briskly to meet this new cat.

"Well, well, well," Dora said, placing the two plates on the table and turning to face the newcomer, "haven't heard from you in a while. How have you been, B.J?" The larger cat seemed a bit taken aback by Dora's greeting, and his face showed it. Dora, however, simply laughed and kissed the large tuxedo cat on the cheek. "I'm just joking, you fop."

This reassurance didn't seem to relax the tom, who cleared his throat uneasily, and said, again in his very proper voice, "Is Jenny or Skimble about, Theodora?"

At that time, both Jenny and Skimble, followed by Jelly, Asparagus, Gus, Bombalurina, and Demeter. When Jenny, carrying a large plate in one paw, saw the new cat standing next to Dora, she immediately blushed a little. Skimble on the other hand, smiled wide and called in his thick accent, "Well, how do you do Bustopher?"

Bustopher didn't answer, but instead walked (actually, he more or less waddled) up to Jenny and grabbed her free paw and planted a large kiss on it. Turning then to face Skimble, who still smiled, albeit it looked rather forced now, Bustopher offered his paw, which Skimble shook. Valerie wasn't sure if she was the only one who noticed how tightly Skimble seemed to clench Bustopher's paw.

Dora suddenly called to the new cat, "Is there something you needed Bustopher?"

Breaking his paw-shake with Skimble, Bustopher turned to Dora and said, "As a matter of fact, this is. I have gotten word that a new Jellicle is to see Deuteronomy for acceptance. I fancied I'd come have a look at him."

Skimble spoke now, as he walked to the table towards Valerie. "Bustopher," he said, 'this is Valerie. She was accepted into the tribe this afternoon. Valerie, this is Bustopher Jones, Dora's older brother and Mistoffelees' uncle."

Instead of saying anything, Valerie nodded a greeting.

Bustopher's eyes once again became wide with surprise. "I see," he said. "A new queen. Well, child, welcome." To Valerie, however, it didn't feel much like a welcome.

Jenny rushed up to Bustopher and said while setting her plate down, "We're having a little celebration for her. If you'd like Bustopher, you can join us."

Bustopher smiled a bit and said "Bully! Sounds wonderful. You can count me in Jenny."

"Just let us bring out the rest of the food, Bustopher," Dora said as she and Jenny walked back into the boot to retrieve the last of the food. Jelly and Asparagus showed Bustopher to a seat. Skimble took out his pipe and a match from his waistcoat and immediately lit it up. His puffs were long and deliberate as he gazed in Bustopher's direction. He stood very rigid and his ears were settled back a little

"What's wrong Skimble?" Valerie asked.

"What?" Skimble asked, as if Valerie had interrupted some train of thought he was having. "Oh, nothing Valerie."

"Alright everyone!" Jenny called as she and Dora reappeared carrying four more platters of food. "Here's the last of it."

Everyone quickly took their seats. Munkustrap, who sat next to Demeter near the head of the table, stood and cleared his throat before saying, "Now, everyone, let's not forget why we are doing this. We're here to congratulate our newest member, Valerie, on being accepted into the tribe today." And, without warning, every cat at the table began clapping for Valerie. She felt herself blushing under her dark fur. "And now," Munkustrap continued after the clapping had ceased, "under this beautiful starry sky, let's enjoy!"

Valerie cast her gaze skyward as plates and bowls began to be passed around all over. Indeed, the sun had disappeared completely and the sky was now filled with stars. But somehow, the junkyard was full of light, radiating from nowhere. And, among all the clattering of plates, glasses, silverware, and chatter, Valerie realized she's never been anywhere that felt more like home.

**Son of A/N: Awwww! A sappy chapter ending is always nice. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it and posting it in less than twenty years -smiles-. And I even managed to stick a character history in there! How clever am I?**

**Just one question I have for anybody who might know: How long are cats usually pregnant? I have no idea and I kinda need to know for some future stories. So if anyone out there knows, please feel free to tell me so.**

**Cheers,**

**Lavender Cat**

**PS According to my files, this is the second shortest chapter I've written! Three cheers for useless trivia!**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Alright, I know it has been a long, long, _long _time since I last updated (please don't hurt me!), but I have been plagued once by the annoyance a life brings, like plays and school obligations...maybe I should just quit school and become a gypsy! I always did like brightly colored clothing...uh...anyway...new chapter. You read now.

"You have got to be kidding me," Valerie cried in shock and slight amusement.

"I swear to Bast above I'm not!" Tugger said, raising his right paw and placing the other over his chest where his heart would be.

"You expect us to believe that even you would be so heartless as to purposely promise to see two queens on the exact same night?" Admetus asked in disbelief.

"Well, of course," Tugger said, as if it were the easiest idea to believe. "Would you ever expect any less from me?" One had to agree with that thought. Compared to several of the other stories Tugger had told them that night, this one was by far the easiest to buy.

"I guess you've got a point," Misto said.

"I'm just glad you've calmed down since then," said Bomba, who said to Tugger's right, almost so close she may as well have been sitting on his back, and was smiling wide. "And that you've finally become a one-queen cat." She took his paw seductively in her own as she said these final words.

"Well, Bomba," Tugger said, expertly feigning guilt, "there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." Tugger never got the chance to finish his sentence, as he suddenly gave a yelp of pain. Bomba, still smiling, had tightened her grip on Tugger's paw...and continued to tighten it. He was now begging rapidly, "Bomba, calm down. It was a joke, okay?"

This had been going on for a few hours now. After all the eating and compliments to Jenny about how magnificent the food was (the latter coming from Bustohper more than anyone else), and Bustopher made his dramatic exit, the older cats had all gone into the boot to converse about whatever it is older cats converse about. Because the night was unusually warm, most of the younger generation had decided to stay out in the open area in front of the boot. At first, they all decided to play a game of hide and seek, figuring the settling darkness would be beneficial to hiding. Of course, Victoria voiced her opinion of the game being far too childish for her tastes, but once Tugger agreed wholeheartedly to play, she folded instantly.

After two hours of tripping over random articles of junk and several victory taunts, they decided to stop the game, much to the disappointment of the kittens, who's energy seemed boundless. Sitting on a large wooden shipping crate and in the dirt below it, they began telling stories, and it somehow had developed into a game of who of the older cats had done the wildest thing in their life, while the kittens looked on in awe. Jerrie and Teazer told of daring burglaries they'd pulled off right under there human's noses. Misto told of a time when he'd once set Tumblebrutus on fire while he was trying to perfect a lightening spell with a head cold. Pouncival, Admetus, Tumblebrutus, and Plato told of how they'd once meant to douse Bustopher Jones head to toe with water, but got Victoria instead (Valerie noticed Victoria scowled at Plato through the entire story). And, of course, Tugger told of the many queens he'd had in his young life. Needless to say, Tugger's stories took much longer to tell than the others and needed much more kitten ear-covering than everyone else's

Suddenly, Jemima elbowed Valerie in the arm and said, "You haven't told a story yet, Valerie."

"Hey that's right," Electra said. "Everyone has to tell a story, and that means you too."

"Yeah, Valerie," Tugger said, leaning back a bit, "let's hear what kind of crazy things you've done in your life."

This was something Valerie had not counted on. What story was she going to tell? Racking her brain a bit, she realized that she really hadn't done anything of great importance in her life. She led a pretty tame existence before she'd stumbled across this tribe (that she now realized she utterly loathed). Finally she said, "Sorry guys, but I honestly can't think of one."

Then, Victoria's snide voice piped up and said, "Well, that doesn't really surprise me. Valerie just doesn't seem the kind of queen who takes chances;. who lives a little."

Valerie couldn't tell exactly what it was, but something in that insult got her thinking instead of making her angry. She recalled back when she was sixteen...and she recalled Amy Laurel's seventeenth birthday party...

"Wait a second," she suddenly cried, as all eyes turned back to her. "I do have one." Turning to Tugger she said, "It isn't as intriguing as the one about the pale yellow queen, the yarn, and the bucket of water, mind you."

Tugger shrugged, grinned smugly, and said, "It's okay. I set the bar pretty high with that one."

"What about the yellow..." Jemima began.

"We'll tell ya when you're older Jem," Jerrie said quickly.

"Well Valerie..." Teazer said, pushing Valerie to begin.

"Okay, when I was younger and back in my old tribe, there was this _really _popular queen. The toms were all nuts about her and all the queens wanted to be her. Everyone wanted to be her friend. I'm kind of ashamed to say that I did too," Valerie noticed that Tugger was nodding his head, as if the story was about him and he was approving it. Rolling her eyes, Valerie continued, "So, at the time, it was a few days before her birthday. She was going to have this really exclusive party where she would personally pick who was going to be there. And when one of her friends comes up to me and tells me she wants me to come, I'm naturally excited beyond belief. Unfortunately for me, my triplet cousins birthday party was on the exact same night..."

"Wait, wait, wait," Tumblebrutus suddenly interrupted. "You had triplet cousins?"

"Yeah, lucky me, right?" The group laughed and Valerie continued her story: "My parents tell me I can't go to her party. Of course I don't let that stop me. I figured if I didn't go to her party this year, she'd never want to invite me again. So, that night, I sneaked out of the house and went to her party."

Tugger let out a low whistle and smiled. "Valerie," he said smoothly. "Never knew you had it in you.'

"So what happened at the party?" Misto asked.

"I had a terrible time," Valerie replied. "No one knew who I was so nobody talked to me. And when I got back home, no one had even known I was gone."

"That's great," Plato said, laughing a little.

"I told you it wasn't very good," Valerie said.

"I think it was funny," Etcetera said. The kittens next to her nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure dad would kill me and Jerrie if we even thought of sneaking out after dark," Teazer said.

"Is Skimble really all that bad when he's angry?" Valerie asked, arching her eyebrow.

Teazer and Jemima exchanged a wary glance before they all nodded in unison, while Jerrie said, " Yeah, Dad can get pretty nasty if he's really angry, but he never stays that way for long."

Valerie tried to picture what Skimble would look like if he were extremely angry. She recalled the story he told her of his sister and daughter, both cut down before their time. He had told her that, despite all the pain and regret he'd felt, he mostly felt angry at himself. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't picture Skimble with any other expression than fatherly love and perhaps the same kind of annoyance mixed with forced hospitality she'd seen him show Bustopher. "What was the deal between Skimble and Bustpoher earlier today?"

"We dunno," Pouncival said. "They've just acted that way to each other for as long as any of us can remember."

"For two toms who don't seemed to like each other, Jenny certainly doesn't seem to mind Bustopher's company," Valerie said, recalling Jenny's flustered behavior earlier. Around her, every cat, even Tugger, began to stifle a giggle. Confused, Valerie asked, "What?"

"Mum likes Bustopher," Jerrie said, trying his hardest not to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Are you serious?!" Valerie cried. She'd never thought Jenny would get on crush on another cat, let alone one like the large tuxedo cat she'd seen today.

"Yeah," Misto said. "And what's even weirder is I think Uncle Bustopher may really like Jenny back."

Jemima made a face and said to Teazer and Jerrie, "Could you imagine him being our _dad?_" After a moment of process of this thought, Jerrie and Teazer made faces similar to Jemima's/.

"Well, he is very charming," Valerie said, carelessly twirling her headfur in her claw and ignoring the twins gagging noises from the idea Jemima put in their heads. "But he seems really...I don't know..."

"Pushy," Misto finished for her.

'Yeah!" she exclaimed in agreement. The conversation did not continue past that point however, because, suddenly, the door to the boot burst open. Like a flash, out flew Demeter, her head cast skyward, her eyes wide. She looked as if Armageddon itself were at hand. The older cats poured out the door after her and followed her gaze.

"Dem, what's wrong," Bomba asked, uncurling herself from her position on Tugger's back.

Demeter didn't answer, she just continued to gaze at the sky, as if waiting for something to fall. In an instant, Munkustrap had rushed to the queen's side. Behind the frantic queen, Valerie noticed Jenny and Skimble looking very anxious. To her right, Valerie could feel the kittens tensing with fear.

Valerie then remembered something. It was buried at the back of her mind and was a quiet and vague memory, but it meekly made itself known.

Jerrie had said_...now anytime Macavity is nearby, she basically goes into shock_.

Valerie felt her spine tense at the thought. Is that what had Demeter on the edge? Could it be that she might be wrong?

But one whispered word from Demeter was all it took to convince Valerie that Demeter was dead-on: "Macavity!"

She pointed high above Tugger's head at an embankment in the pile of junk that made the perfect perch for a shadowy figure. At the sight, all the cats sitting below it scrambled for the cats near the middle of the open space. Valerie decided to follow their examples.

Now where she could see, she realized how little there was to actually see. The darkness almost completely shaded the new figure, making it impossible to see it.

But the figure lifted a single paw, and, in one felt swoop, produced a loud snap. The after-effect was a bright yellow light cascading from the stranger's finger tips. Staring back down at the startled company, was a thin, drawn face with bright black eyes, like polished obsidian, and a smug smile, reflecting the light shining from his paw.

Valerie knew that she was now looking into the face of the one and only Macavity.

**Son of A/N: **Dun dun DUN!!!! Holy shizznit! What will happen now that Macavity had made the scene?! You guys are just gonna have to read the next chapter to find out, now won't you...

Also, this is officially the shortest chapter I have written, besides the prologue, but that one doesn't count.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: **I said I would never do it again. That I'd rather cut off my own leg than do it again! But, because of my weak will and the fact I love you people out there in the dark, I have yet again produced twin chapters! Lordy, lordy those things are taking a toll on my hips...So here ya go ya lovable peoples you!

Valerie had to admit, he certainly looked like a master criminal. Illuminated by the sparks from his fingers, she could she all of his body and face perfectly. His thin and bony body was covered in tangled mess of ginger and red fur, flecked with black. His square-jawed face with his obsidian eyes and fanged mouth was lightly rested on his paw, with long pointed claws protruding from the ends. However, the most prominent feature to this strange new cat was the heap of fur that started at the nape of his neck, forming something of a mane that, unlike Tugger's, didn't rest on his shoulders, but traveled upward to the top of his head. It was like that part of his body had been set on fire and he hadn't noticed yet.

In one swift movement that looked like it required no effort at all, Macavity was on his feet and stepped from his perch, landing squarely on the crate they had all just been sitting on. He did a quick sweep of the cats around him and slowly began to sashay to a piece of wood propped against the crate to use as a ramp.

His walk was extremely strange for someone who supposedly led a life of crime. There was a certain airy grace about him, like he was not a cat who had committed heinous crimes, but a elegant gentleman of the social elite, coming to greet his guests at an exclusive gala. He was confident, sure, and proud. If Valerie had not known who he truly was, she might have considered him oddly attractive.

Finally he reached the ground. He stepped closer to the group of cats that now watched him with wary eyes. His presence seemed to intimidate them all, even Munkustrap, who tried his best to hide behind a facade of bravery. Macavity seemed to notice this and grinned slyly. He seemed to be taking pleasure from inspiring fear in his brother.

That grin seemed to to infuriate Munkustrap immensely as he suddenly cried, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Macavity's expression turned from sly to shock. He said, "The last time I checked, Munkustrap, two cats exchange a pleasant 'hello' before asking questions. Forgotten your manners already, have you?" His expression returned to sly. "And I haven't even been here five minutes." His voice was so smooth and rich, it practically poured out of his mouth. But there was a slight hint of arrogance in it that took away from its pleasantness.

"We know you aren't here for a social visit Macavity," saying the word seemed to disgust Muskustrap beyond comprehension. "So what do you want."

Macavity smiled again and asked, "A tom cannot pay a visit to his home tribe and be left to do it in peace?" He took a few steps closer to Munkustrap, and was suddenly inches from his face. But before he could say more to Munkustrap, he began to sniff the air, as if some kind of aroma was wafting in the breeze. Turning his head toward Demeter, he inhaled once again and then lowered his head to her belly, which had barely begun to show signs of impending motherhood.

However, Macavity raised his head, his sly grin even wider as he said to both Demeter and Munkustrap in a strangely mocking tone, "Well, congratulations are in order for both of you! I've always _dreamed_ of being an uncle." He added with a laugh, a deep chuckle from the back of his throat, "Tell me, Demeter, have you chosen names yet?" The golden queen didn't reply but continued to stare at Macavity in what looked to be a mixture of anger and wonderment. "No?" he said when he receive no reply. "Well, no matter, you have plenty of time."

He turned gracefully on his heel. About halfway through his turn, he stopped and stared straight ahead.

He had stopped because his keen eyes had caught sight of Valerie, standing next to Jemima and Jerrie. His sly grin seemed ready to cause his face to burst when it came upon the sight of her. Needless to say, it was the moment Valerie had been dreading.

In the same speedy motion he'd used on Munkustrap, he was inches from Valerie's face in a matter of seconds. She could feel his breath entering her nose. It smelled surprisingly like mint.

"Your name, if it isn't a rude question my dear," he said suddenly, taking his eyes off of her as her spoke only to blink.

Although she could feel her throat drying up, she managed to say "Valerie."

A much softer smile, but one still lined with conceit, spread across his face. He began to walk in a circle around her, his back totally erect and still managing to have a bit of a skip in his step. "Very musical sounding. I always have been quite fond of music." Valerie was feeling a heat of anger rise in her face. How could he speak so casually to anyone after all of the hideous things he'd done? By now, Macavity had made his way all the way back to her face. Her anger must have been easy to see. For he stopped in mid-stride and asked, "Why so stone faced, my dear?"

Valerie felt like she might explode. She managed to say through her clenched teeth, "I know what you are."

At first, Macavity didn't seem to understand what she meant. But slowly his confusion melted back into a knowing smile, this one showing his teeth, pearly white and very sharp. It was a frightening smile, but Valerie fought her hardest to mask her fear of it.

He chuckled again at the back of his throat and ran one long-clawed paw through his wild mane before saying, "Oh, yes, I suppose you've been here long enough to hear all the stories. My old tribe may try to act like I don't exist, but the simply can not stop talking about me." Once again he began making a circle around Valerie and continued to speak, "Yes, I'm sure you've heard all the stories about 'The Mystery Cat', about 'The Hidden Paw'. About how I'm such a monster, such a lunatic. All the unspeakable things I've done and not once been caught." He spoke these last words with a hint of pride, as if he were accepting some kind of award for the things he'd mentioned.

"Yes, my dear, in this tribe, everyone has a story about me. And I'm sure they've wasting no time in telling you. " He once again stood directly in front of her, but his face was now slightly contorted with rage and his eyes flickered with annoyance as he practically whispered the words, "But has anyone in this tribe bothered to tell you _my _story?"

He turned back to the tribe, hi anger now blatantly obvious. He seemed to be shouting at them as well as speaking to Valerie. "About how this tribe is full of nothing but traitors and liars?" He swooped into Tugger's face. "About it's bastard whore-sons, who feign true love for some measly attention?" Before Tugger could even look angry, Macavity was in Alonzo's face. "About it's pathetic kittens, who try to act strong to mask the fact they're truly weak?" Again, he was in Munkustrap's face before Alonzo could react. "What about it's proud leaders, who hides the truth from his own sons to save his own reputation." He flew from Munkustrap's face to Valerie's again and shouted, "Well, did they!"

Valerie felt her heart skip a beat. She was sure Macavity was going to loose it, right then and there. But instead, his shoulders loosened and his breathing became steady. Before Valerie could blink, he had swooped into Demeter's face. His voice was now quieter, but Valerie realized that it sounded more dangerous than calm now, as he said, "What about it's whore's of Babylon? The ones that pretend to share your deep love of them, even have the nerve to confess it to your face." He then began to gently graze his paw over Demeter's stomach. "And then destroy you. Leaving you battered and broken with your heart torn out so there's barely anything left of you at all." Without even looking at Munkustrap, as he still grazed Demeter's stomach, Macavity said to him, "Yes, I'm sure those are the stories she has never heard..." He trailed off and ceased grazing Demeter's stomach. Turning to Munkustrap, he finished his sentence with one syllable, said just loud enough that the whole surrounding company could hear it. "Brother."

It seemed to happen in one lightening movement, and yet in a certain slow motion. As soon as that one word had fallen over Macavity's lip, Munkustrap had lunged, throwing himself on the red and ginger cat, clawing wildly. Macavity gave a powerful swat at Munkustrap's jaw that sent him reeling back. He managed to get to his feet, only to be knocked down again by Alonzo, who threw himself into Macavity's back. The other toms immediately joined the fray, as Jenny, Jelly, and Dora ran to where the kittens and Valerie stood followed by all the adult queens, and quickly ushered them all behind them.

Valerie noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jerrie now sneaked around behind the group protected by the three queens. She only realized what he was doing when it was too late. He lept into the fight with the other toms. Jenny apparently had also seen him, and was now shouting something Valerie could not understand above the hissing and screeching coming from the brutal fight before them.

The battle raged. Macavity, who was by far the easiest to find, was not only trying to bat the other toms away with his claws, but was throwing punches as well, hitting whomever was within reach of his fist. Suddenly, Valerie saw the familiar shape of Skimbleshanks, rise behind Macavity and reel back his fist. Macavity seemed to sense this and turned to face Skimble, but it was a split second too late. Skimble's fist rammed into Macavity's jaw with sheer force, making a sickening cracking noise on contact. The sudden jolt of pain sent Macavity's paw straight for his aching jaw as he stumbled back toward the protected group.

Jenny, Jelly, and Dora swiftly ushered the group away from the faltering cat. Unfortunately, they didn't get away fast enough. Macavity stretched out his paw and grabbed the first kitten it came in contact with. That kitten was Jemima.

Everyone seemed to freeze. Macavity placed his long arm around Jemima's chest to hold her against him. He raised one of his long, sharp claws to the bottom of her chin. He looked around swiftly as he said, "That was an excellent punch, old man. But I'm afraid, I'm able to do you one better." He now addressed the entire gathering. "If you allow me to go in peace, I promise to let her go free." Speaking to Skimble again he said, "Think on it, Skimble. Can you and Jenny really afford to loose another?" All the toms seemed to slump in defeat. Jemima's face was twisted in fear, her golden eyes wide and unblinking, from either knowing that she might die or that she was so close to the cat she'd been taught to fear.

Macavity, frankly pleased with his leverage over them, took a few steps backwards. As he reached an opening in the junk, Munkustrap said cautiously, "Alright Macavity. Just let go of her, like you promised, and you can leave."

Macavity's all-knowing grin returned to his face. "As you wish," he said slowly, gently removing his arm from Jemima's chest and bringing his paw down her arm, as if to lead her away from him. Jemima stepped warily away from him, eager to put a safe distance between herself and Macavity. However when his paw reached her elbow, his grip again tightened, and he pulled her back against him, pressing his arm harder on her chest and pressing his claw directly at her throat, "Or maybe I'm lying."

Valerie had no idea what possessed her at the second. Maybe it was the fear she felt for Jemima's life, or the anger she felt towards Macavity. But whatever it was, it took control of her legs and sent her forward, her claws extended from her fingers. She hit Macavity square on the cheek, hard enough that he released Jemima from his grip. Finally free from her captor Jemima ran to the safety of Skimble's arms.

At first, Valerie felt elated. That is until she saw Macavity out of the corner of her eye. He had the back of his paw pressed against his cheek, but he momentarily pulled it away to show that Valerie's swipe had drawn blood. The thick, sticky red liquid worked its way down his face and dripped into the dirt. Suddenly, Macavity's eyes became wild and fiery. She soon realized what a grave mistake she had made.

In his swift motion, he was at her face in the blink of an eye. She tried again to bat at his face, but he was wise to her plot. He caught her hand in mid-swipe. His grip was so strong, he could have broken every bone in his her wrist should the idea have fancied him. He pulled her close to his face and simply said, "A foolish decision."

Suddenly, Valerie heard the entire company gasp in shock. She only realized why when a sharp pain shot through her lower body and all throughout her body. Looking down, she saw that one of his long pointed claws, now hard as steel and cold as ice, was now lodged directly in her stomach. She recalled the pain she'd felt when the car had made contact with her spine in what seemed like years ago. That had been a total accident, a result of her own impulses. Now that she felt what it was like to be deliberately hurt, it was a thousands time worse. With one swift movement of his paw, Macavity pulled his claw out of the wound he'd caused. Blood, dark, warm, and thick, trickled down her stomach and slowly made its way down her leg. Valerie instantly felt faint. She tottered a bit, coming close to Macavity's face. As soon as she was within earshot, he said barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry. Truly I am." He was gone in a matter of seconds.

Valerie didn't touch the ground right away when she could no longer support herself. She felt herself being caught by a pair of rough, shaking paws and being lowered gently to the ground. Although he vision was blurred, she could see faint the faint outlines of Jerrie holding up her head. She also saw Jenny and Skimble behind him. Teazer and Jemima's faces were absolutely wracked with pain. She felt Jerrie take her paw in his and gently stroke it.

Although Valerie had only a little strength left, she raised her free paw and gently placed it on Jerrie's face. She felt warm tears come to her eyes as she looked into his beautiful brown eyes one last time. Then she let her hand fall back to her chest.

And Valerie felt as if she were falling once more...

**Son of A/N: **Oh noes! Why is fate so cruel!! Why!?!?! It looks like this is the end for our young heroine...or is it? Dun dun DUN!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this extremely depressing chapter. I offer tissues and comfort cake to anyone who wants some.

Now, a small favor: I was quite about writing Macavity in this story. You know, afraid I might totally screw up his character somehow. So, if you lovely readers would be so kind as to offer feedback about my version of him. It would be greatly appreciated.

Until the next chapter,

Lavender Cat


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: **-enters in full body armor with shield to avoid all pointy, pain-inflicting objects that may be hurled at her person- Okay, I would just like to apologize GREATLY for being so tardy (nearly three months…geez) with this update. Please do not hurt and/or yell at me!! The whole thing started with a play, and somehow my laptop not working and state standardized testing got thrown in the mix, and my fanfic just kind of got forgotten. So, enjoy this chapter…please…

Valerie could feel the familiar heat of the air press against her body as she fell from what seemed the great height she'd started from in consciousness. She felt the pain from her stomach slowly fade, until there was no trace of it left.

Valerie recognized this euphoric feeling from her first near-death experience from what seemed like an accident that felt as if it had happened a million years ago. Her eyelids fluttered open involuntarily and she immediately shielded them with her arm to avoid being blinded by the bright pastel colors.

Bracing herself this time, she removed her arm from blocking her view and allowed her eyes to strain in the brightness of the memorable pallid tunnel.

Valerie felt surprisingly groggy, her head full of some kind of mental fog. She barely even remembered why she was here again, falling in this dreamlike state. She vaguely recalled intense pain, frantic fighting, and heartbroken expressions, but she was too tired to think of in detail. Only when a small light flickered from the corner of her eye did Valerie even try to gather strength to turn her head toward it.

"Valerie," the light whispered to her. The voice was soft and comforting. It made Valerie feel even sleepier, but she struggled to keep her eyes open as the voice spoke again. "Valerie, do you recall your life before your accident."

Valerie was confused now. Her life before the Jellicles, before the junkyard? Had she really had a life before that?

"Vaguely," Valerie managed to say, noticing that her speech was slurred and slow.

The voice didn't respond to her. Instead, there was a bright flash, and the part of the tunnel Valerie faced became reflective, like a mirror.

Staring back at Valerie was, not a black and gray cat, but a thin, bony-faced young woman, with long black hair and large gray eyes. The woman had a small grimace on her face, as if someone was annoying her greatly. Valerie knew who this rather sour woman was. It was herself.

"You weren't exactly happy," the voice said simply. The reflective image changed then. Now, two older people, a man and a woman, stood on either side of Valerie, both looking as bony and thin. They both smiled faintly, and the smiles faded quickly.

"Mom? Dad?" Valerie wondered aloud. They looked the exactly as she remembered; her mother like an older version of herself, her father lanky with the light reflecting off his thick glasses. And, of course, neither one looked very happy. They never really had.

The image changed, this time showing a slew of younger children, ranging in age. Her cousins, all thirteen of them, laughing and acting like the general animals they always acted like. The voice spoke again, "Feeling like you were fading into the crowd."

Nothing could have prepared Valerie for the next image. As her cousins all faded away, the image of a tall, muscular, blond man came into view on her left. He was perfectly sculpted. Daniel Pryde, the slimy, disgusting, and completely perfect god. However, it got worse. To Valerie's right, a lovely blond pixie came into view. Mary Sue. Valerie watched as the two came together behind her and locked lips while the voice continued. "And you'd had your heart broken. However, all that changed when you became a Jellicle."

Suddenly, Daniel and Mary Sue were gone, vanished like smoke. Valerie gazed at her reflection, which slowly began to grow fur, whiskers, and pointy ears. She watched as her tail began to twitch behind her. She smiled. The friendly-looking cat smiled back.

"You found the love you had always been seeking," the voice said. Valerie watched as Jenny and Skimble both appeared by her side. Skimble looked incredibly happy, as always, the light dancing in his glass green eyes. Jenny smiled too, her face shining like the sun.

Jenny and Skimble faded, and were replaced by a whole group of other cats. She saw Tugger, Teazer, and Misto first, standing closest to her, but farther back she saw Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Etcetera, and others standing behind her with large smiles on their faces.

"And in more ways than one." The group faded. A familiar calico cat appeared by Valerie's side, his arm laced over her shoulder, his eyes glittering with love, and his boyish grin glowing. Mungojerrie. Valerie felt her heart swell at the sight of him. But once the feeling had reached its highest point, Jerrie disappeared, like the visions of the others.

"You see Valerie, no creature, man or beast, can make it through life without love. Any sort of love. You had all but abandoned love as a human, after it had spurned you so many times. But, after the Jellicles found you and made you one of their own, your faith in love was restored. Love is the ultimate source of happiness, Valerie Greywool. And it seems a pity to wrench anything away from something that gave it so much happiness…"

The voice didn't continue. Instead, Valerie began her free fall again. But it didn't feel so much like falling this time…it felt more like she was rising…

She suddenly came to a stop.

Valerie could feel something soft surrounding her body. The pain in her stomach was returning now, and it coupled with a strange pounding in her head, making every nerve in her body scream in fury. She really had no idea where she found the strength, but she managed to let a low moan escape.

To her side, she sensed movement, like someone had just jumped to their feet straight to her side. She felt a warm, rough paw against the side of her face. She could hear something, but she wasn't quite sure what it was exactly. The drum-like rhythm in her head was making the words run together. It sounded familiar though.

As the pounding in her head slowly began to fade, she began to make out syllables.

"Valerie," a gentle voice called to her softly. "Valerie, please say something, anything."

Valerie recognized the voice in an instant. "Skimble?" she said weakly, her tongue so dry it nearly stuck to the roof of her mouth. She allowed her eyes to open, and the faint, blurry outline of a worried orange tabby came into view.

Skimble's face lit up with happiness and concern all at once. As her vision became clearer, Valerie noticed that his face was streaked with wet trails tears had left behind. He said nothing more, but instead enveloped her in a warm, gentle hug. Valerie wanted to hug him back, with all her might, but she couldn't lift her arms.

Valerie heard someone walk quietly into the room, before a small gasp filled the room. "Skimble, what are you…"

"Jenny!" Skimble cried with delight. "She's awake. Come see! She's awake!"

Skimble moved to one side so Jenny, standing in the doorway, could see. The look of confusion she bore instantly melted away to a mixture of delight and surprise. With incredible speed Valerie was completely unaware Jenny possessed, Jenny was by her side. She'd shoved Skimble gently out of the way and had wrapped Valerie in her arms, kissing the top of her head with great affection and warmth. Valerie felt warm tears of joy soaking into the fur on her head. She felt on the brink of tears herself.

A loud noise came from the doorway. Jenny, Skimble, and Valerie all lifted their heads at once toward where it had resonated, only to be greeted by a mass of cats all trying to fit in the door to Jemima's tiny bedroom at once.

Of course, Tugger got in first, pushing his large stature through the doorway with ease. But before he could open his mouth to say one word, Jenny spoke up, saying, 'I think it would be best if we moved Valerie to the front room where you all won't hurt each other trying to get to see her." Turning to face Valerie, she said, "That is if Valerie feels up to getting out of bed."

Valerie felt her lips curl into a smile. "I think I can manage," she said simply.

Valerie only winced a little when Skimble and Tugger lightly placed their hands behind her and slowly hoisted her to a sitting position, despite her back and stomach groaning in pain at the sudden and unexpected movement. She only then noticed that her abdomen was wrapped in clean white bandages.

She gingerly placed her feet on the floor and stood, tottering a little, her legs wobbly from misuse. Luckily, Skimble and Tugger were still on either side of her, making sure she did not come in contact with the floor. Slowly, but surely, Valerie and her entourage made it into the front room and to the sofa. Jenny fluffed a pillow quickly and set it against the arm as Valerie sat down and made herself comfortable against the soft material of the sofa.

No sooner had her fur made contact with the material, did Jemima manage to scoot closer to Valerie's paw, which hung off the edge of the sofa limply. Jemima took Valerie's paw in her own and began to rub her head against it, purring loudly. Valerie smiled as she said, "It's good to see you too Jem."

Jemima looked up at Valerie with her big, golden eyes and smiled wide, but said nothing. She just continued to rub her head against Valerie's paw.

"Valerie, you cannot imagine how worried everyone has been." Tugger spoke suddenly, surprising Valerie a bit. "Macavity's claw had sunk in pretty deep. We thought you would die for sure."

"Well, you weren't alone," Valerie said, recalling her trip through the pastel tunnel.

"But then Aunt Dora noticed that you were still breathing," Misto said. "It wasn't much. We could hardly see you chest moving up and down, but at least it was something."

"You were asleep for the rest of the night and most of today," Teazer said, sitting on the floor with Jemima, who still was purring madly.

"I have to say, you are probably one of the luckiest cats I've ever met," Admetus said, his lopsided grin plastered firmly in place on his face. The rest of the kittens, now all seated around Jemima, nodded in agreement.

"We've all been checking up on you," Jenny said, placing her paw on Valerie's shoulder. "Making sure you were alright. Between you and Demeter's pregnancy, there hasn't been much sleep in this junkyard."

Valerie felt her eyes become moist. She couldn't believe that all these cats, who'd found her in an alleyway, alone and very confused, would do something like this for her. For the first time in a long time, she felt as if she were part of a big family. She scanned the group of cats, but stopped when she realized something was missing.

"Where's Jerrie?" she asked.

She heard Skimble smack himself in the forehead before saying, "Oh, Bast! Teazer, go get your brother! This is something he must see!" Teazer rose to her feet and bolted down the hallway as Skimble said to Valerie, "He's up on top of the boot. He goes up there whenever he's upset about something, and this was pretty upsetting for him. He only comes in to sleep. And even then he doesn't do much of that."

Valerie felt a small pain in her chest, but it wasn't from her wounds. She loved Mungojerrie with all her heart. She hated to know that he had suffered.

A pair of running footsteps in the hallway interrupted Valerie's thoughts. She turned toward the entry to the hallway, where Teazer emerged, grasping her twin's paw. Jerrie looked horrible; the fur surrounding his head was mussed and matted. His eyes had deep purple circles under them, as if he had not slept in days. His usually happy face was plagued with sorrow.

Valerie felt her heart sink like a rock, the pain in her chest intensifying. She pulled herself into a sitting position, ignoring the ache in her lower body.

Jerrie, alerted by the sound of movement coming from the sofa, raised his eyes.

When he saw her, he simply stared, unbelieving.

"Hi," Valerie said quietly, her lips curling into a small smile.

Jerrie took a tentative step forward, as if making his way through a dream world that he wasn't sure was real. Jemima and Teazer moved out of the way to allow him to kneel at the edge of the sofa, closest to Valerie's face.

The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat broke the silence that had settled in. The sound had come from Skimble, who, with his arm laced over Jenny's shoulder, said, "I think it would be best if we gave these two a moment alone."

Jenny patted his paw in response. "I think that's a good idea, darling." To the rest of the company, she said, "Let's go outside for a minute, dears."

The cats stood and willingly filed out the door, except for Etcetera, who kept asking, "What's going on? Why do we leave? What are they gonna do," until Admetus grabbed her arm and tugged her out the door.

Tugger, the last cat to exit the boot, closed the door with a loud thud. Now alone once again, Jerrie returned his attention to Valerie.

He began to tenderly trace his fingers down the edge of her face, starting from the top of her forehead to the tip of her chin. His touch was warm and rough, like always. It made Valerie's heart pound swiftly in her ribcage. Her blood pounded. She closed her eyes and let the gentle sensation run down her spine and throughout her.

She opened her eyes again and saw that Jerrie's beautiful brown eyes were tinged with confusion.

"What's wrong," Valerie asked quietly.

Jerrie sighed and replied, "I'm trying to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Valerie leaned in so their eyes were on the same level. "How about some solid proof."

Placing her fingers lightly on the back of his neck, she pulled him close to her, until their noses were touching. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her lips against his. She felt him relax and press himself closer to her. It was as if they had just kissed for the first time.

It was intense, luscious, and over too soon. Jerrie slowly unlocked his lips from hers and looked back at her, his eyes smiling once more, and said with a small laugh, "Yep, definitely not a dream."

Valerie giggled and felt herself begin to purr. She rubbed her head against Jerrie's firm stomach. He placed his paw on the back of her head and stroked softly. She was listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart in her ear when he suddenly said slowly, "I was so worried I would never see you again."

Valerie gulped back a lump as she lifted her head, allowing Jerrie's arm to drop further down her back. She turned to see his eyes now brimmed with tears. She leaned in close to his face and whispered, "Jerrie, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Until I met you, I didn't ever think it was possible for someone like me to be as happy as you've made me. I wouldn't leave you for anything, ever."

Jerrie said nothing else, but pressed his lips back against hers. She put up no resistance, just wrapped her arms around him and enjoyed the pure joy popping in her soul, like little fireworks.

It was one of those days when the weather was far too nice for the time of year. Despite being late September, the sun bore down on the group of cats that were either on or surrounding the tire.

The kittens chased each other through the dirt, playing an unorganized game of tag. Jenny, Jelly, Dora chattered while working on a large patch quilt. Skimble and Asparagus talked about various things as Skimble smoked his pipe, the smoke spewing forth. Leaning against a pile of junk, was Valerie with Jerrie to her left, surrounded by Teazer, Tugger, Misto, and Admetus.

It was the first time in two days Valerie had gotten out of the boot to move around in the open air. As she began to regain to strength and managed to walk about the boot without tripping, she started longing to go out and watch the kittens, to do something besides sit. Eventually, with help from Jemima's wide-eyed begging stare, they'd managed to convince Jenny she was well enough to go outside.

Now, they were happily listening to Amdetus' story of how he'd once tricked Victoria into thinking that a monster lived in a discarded shoe they'd found, and, by making strange gurgling noises from the back of his throat, he was able to scare her witless.

"Wow," Misto said, shaking his head while he laughed. "You are undoubtedly cruel."

"Yes, I am simply despicable," Admetus said, pretending to sound regretful. He quickly reverted to his cheerful state and added, "Well, Victoria's my baby sister, and I am entitled to make life a little more difficult for her."

"Says who?" Valerie said, leaning her head against Jerrie's shoulder.

"It's ancient law," Admetus said. "Dating back to before recorded history, the older siblings have always made the younger one's life mildly miserable. Isn't that right Jerrie?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jerrie replied, with a chuckle. Teazer nodded in agreement.

Admetus didn't get any more time to explain the prehistoric theories of sibling rivalry, as Munkustrap suddenly appeared, with a look of urgency on his face. Tugger noticed this immediately and called over to him, "What's up, 'Straps?"

Munkustrap shot Tugger a sharp look, obviously annoyed by Tugger's lack of formality, before saying, "Old Deuteronomy sent me. He wishes to have an audience with Valerie."

Valerie's head shot up at once. What could Old Deuteronomy possibly want from her? She slid off her perch from the tire and walked up to Munkustrap. Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie watched the group behind her, which had become eerily silent. She gave a small smile and called over her shoulder, "I'll be back in a second."

Following behind Munkustrap, the pair soon came to a large black grand piano. It was falling apart near the top, with large holes gaping out of its lid. Valerie found it hard to believe that the leader of the tribe resided in this dilapidated spot. But Munkustrap walked up to it and reached to its side, finding a small handle, gave it a twist, and opened the door. He motioned with his hand for Valerie to go forward. Gulping heavily, Valerie walked in.

The inside of the piano didn't really looked in as bad of shape as the outside. It was dimly lit, with faded green painted walls. Valerie guessed this room was some kind of sitting room, as two hallways branched off to the right and left, maybe leading off to a bedroom and kitchen.

To her right, Valerie heard someone clear their throat. Jerking her head to that direction, she saw the familiar face of Old Deuteronomy, still just as kind, patient, and wrinkled.

The huge cat sat in an overstuffed armchair, his paws laid casually on the arms. He smile his tired, old smile at Valerie and said in his smooth and gentle tone, "If you don't mind, Munkustrap…"

Munkustrap had been so quiet, Valerie had forgotten he was still at the door. She turned to face him. The tiger tabby looked slightly embarrassed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"I hope you don't mind either, Valerie, that I'd prefer to speak to you alone," Old Deuteronomy said in a light tone.

"No, I don't," Valerie replied. She swallowed a large lump in her throat and wished he would just tell her what he wanted to tell her.

"How are you faring?" Old Deuteronomy asked. "I trust that Macavity's visit did not leave any lasting handicaps."

"No, thankfully." Valerie said.

Old Deuteronomy sighed and slowly lifted himself out of the armchair. He took a few steps as he said, "You would like me to get to the point, wouldn't you Valerie?"

"Sir?" Valerie felt every muscle in her body tighten.

"Valerie I know about your past." That caught Valerie off guard. She cast a confused look up at the old cat, unsure of what he meant. "I'm fully aware that you did not begin your life as one of us. You were once human." Valerie felt her eyes widen. How had he known?

"It's strange, you know." Old Deuteronomy continued. "I never truly believed any creature could be reborn. And I certainly never believed that such a transition could be made. Can you tell me how it happened?"

Valerie couldn't speak. She was too dumbfounded. Finally, she asked without really thinking, "How did you know?"

Without hesitation, Old Deuteronomy said, "Well, there was the obvious reason. As you and I both know, there has never been a Greywool tribe. Although, I must admit, that was very clever." He added with a slight chuckle. Valerie was amazed at how pleasant he was keeping this conversation. He may as well have been recounting a funny thing that happened to him years ago.

"Um…sir," Valerie stammered. Deuteronomy looked up at her, waiting for her to speak. "If you knew I wasn't a cat to begin with and that there wasn't a Greywool tribe, why did you act like what I said was true?"

Deuteronomy did not answer at first. His old, time-worn face was racked with thought, as if wondering how to respond. Finally, he said, "You know, Valerie, I am really not quite sure. There was some feeling I had that, even though you were not one of us, you still belonged with us. It is strange."

"I wonder why…" Valerie said, more to herself than Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy's face softened. He slowly put his arm around Valerie's shoulder and walked her toward the door. "No one is quite sure why things happen the way they do, Valerie. It is up to us to figure out why we are here to begin with and what our purpose is. Perhaps, coming here and becoming a part of our, for lack of a better word, family, is your purpose." He opened the door, allowing brilliant, midday sunlight to pour into the room. "I'm not sure about you, but the chance to start again seems like a wonderful purpose to me."

Valerie smiled, and, without really thinking about it, threw her arms around Deuteronomy. She rejoined Munkustrap, who looked at her with slight confusion, but didn't ask questions. Valerie just flashed her smile at him and allowed him to lead her back to her…family. Valerie thought that that was the perfect way to describe them.

**Son of A/N: **And now, my dearies, this is that part of the story, that bittersweet part where the adventures of our plucky heroine have come to an end.

But we had fun didn't we?

I would like to thank my readers PROFUSELY for reading this story, sending me all those wonderful reviews, full of praise and hilarity, and, especially, for being so very patient it the near year it took to write this thing. You are all wonderful in every possible way.

I think by now you have all figured out this is the part of the story where I say…or write, whatever floats your boat…THE END!


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